ok i finished the first chapter and am gonna take a break now but im v excited to keep reading im really liking the way the author looks at things so far

Ok it’s time for the St Augustine Joker meta. Sorry if it got a bit long I just have a lot of thoughts.

I find it so interesting that he would bring up St Augustine in that moment. I wasn’t a huge fan of the run in general but I thought it had its merits and this bit was one of them because I’m a sucker for batjokes that is also religious fanaticism.

For St Augustine, ‘grace’ in this sense is not something that needs to be found or earned, the Catholic doctrine states that it is given freely, a gift from God to mankind.

Batman gives Joker grace when nobody in the entire world will, I mentioned it a bit in my last meta but think Batman: Cacophony, Batman: It's Joker time, Batman: Devil's Advocate and literally every time he doesn't kill him, or protects him from harm when nobody else would. He is giving him grace that does not have to be earned, it's a benevolent gift from the divine. Or at least that's how Joker is seeing it, a rationalisation for why Batman spares him when nobody else would.

St Augustine tells God that "it is only by Your grace and mercy that You have melted away the ice of my evil". St Augustine needs God in the same way Joker needs Batman, to act in opposition to his 'evil', to be worshipped with the intention of being the gravity that keeps him on Earth, or in his own words, the compass pointing true north.

I'm not going to get too carried away but I think it's a pretty interesting comparison that's existing here between St Augustine and God, and Joker and Batman.

"head towards God and remember, everything else is chaos"

If Batman is the entity that is salvation, the thing to be drawn to- he isn't just the opposite force, but the only other thing in existence, because Joker defines himself as chaos. There is Divinity and Chaos and that is all. It's a nice lens on Joker's perspective that every other living thing is a prop in his pursuit of Batman's love and attention.

Religion is a choice, but how could Joker pick any other divinity, when he freely acknowledges that Batman is his creator. One of St Augustine's concepts surrounding human creation is that of original sin- that being that everybody is born with sin, born tainted ever since Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden.

But if everyone is born tainted, lives tainted and there is no real assurance of redemption, what actually is the point in trying to be good, to be a virtuous person, if someone like the Joker can just come into the church and take your life. Or from the pov of the Joker what is the point in any of it if we are born ruined.

We return to the idea that Joker sees himself as beyond salvation in the traditional sense, he's in a sunk cost fallacy but with being evil. But just to push this to it's limit, his very existence shakes faith in a creator that is all good,

Where is the grace of God in a world that allowed him to exist?

In the absence of divine light and a creator that loves him, he desperately seeks the opposite, divine darkness and a creator that hates him. But Joker loves him no less for it because Batman is all that exists in his world.

"head towards love and everything else is chaos"

Here he's changed the words of St Augustine, altering it from following God to following love, and he says this while heading towards Batman which is...basically the entire point of this, Batman is his love, Batman is his divinity.

But even Batman has to devote himself to an idea bigger than himself, and he can only stand in opposition, his crusade would be over if he truly cleansed Gotham of all evil- OR, as Joker suggests in this comic, if he became happy. If he didn't have to exist in opposition, if the misery that fuelled his crusade was taken away

Joker can only stand in opposition too- we know this because we see how completely he crumbles apart when his opposition is removed.

Batman functionally exists as half of a whole, in his own way Joker's speech is confronting this reality, albeit in a much more roundabout way than he explains it to Selina.

And this is why neither of them can ever truly escape this cycle, their aspect of devotion would die the moment the other was removed from the equation, and with it divinity and chaos would cease to exist, and so would the world.

I love cosmic batjokes.

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

Mission Debrief: Chapter 43

...IT’S HAPPENING! IT’S HAPPENING! IT’S HAPPENING-!

Alright, before we get into it- full disclosure; the hivemind is in full swing at the Operation Strix discord server, so pretty much anything I write here is going to be an amalgamation of all the conspiracy theories and reactions we vomited out as soon as the chapter dropped. On that same note, I think writing these the day after will start to be the norm. Just so I have the chance to calm myself before going on a twenty-page tangent about everything Endo may or may not be planning.

Okay [deep breath] let’s get into it.

First, let’s start off with Franky, before we get into the juicy stuff.

When the chapter first started, I thought we were going to get backstory on Franky. Endo seemed to be alluding to this on his twitter page, and I was actually interested in possibly seeing more about his and Twilight’s relationship. Of course that didn’t end up happening; instead we got another side story about Franky trying to get some action by finding a lady’s lost cat, but seeing as how it’s Franky we’re talking about it seemed appropriate. Also, how can I be upset when-

The princess herself arrives! I gotta say, I loved the lightheartedness of most of this chapter. Yor’s always a delight, and pairing her together with Franky was a smart move on Endo’s part. They built off each other’s wackiness and I love this moment with the two of them. Just like with Twilight, we see that Franky genuinely wants to make the world a better place (and also get rich along the way) and Yor’s so impressed with him. I also liked that moment where Franky is surprised to find Yor still playing Loid’s wife even when he isn’t there- much like how he was with Anya while he was babysitting her. Just another little nod to the fact that he sees the Forger girls as being more than players in a game of elaborate house.

Then- just a quick thing before we get into what I know we all want to talk about- it’s interesting to me that Franky isn’t a one-man operation. He has a whole network of informants that he works with, and it makes sense that someone in his line of work has a many ears on the wall as possible. It’s a surefire way to stay plugged into the goings-on of the Ostanian underworld, unless of course...

...They get taken out by Garden.

AGHGHGHGHGH ALRIGHT, OK LET’S GO-

Garden. We finally have a name for Yor’s group now; we thought it was The Shop for the longest time, but apparently that’s only part of it. Yor alluded to this briefly back in ch. 29 when she described The Shop was being in charge of information gathering, and once their job was done it was Yor’s turn to come in and do the actual assassination. In this sense we see The Shop was being more of a support role in the same way that Franky is, though it’s still safe to assume the Shopkeeper is still in charge of both The Shop and Garden. At least for now- until we get more information to say otherwise, anyway.

Of course, the interesting thing is our silhouetted figures standing in this panel- not to mention the fact that Franky states that all the members are capable of taking on a whole troop of soldiers (for reference, a troop ranges between 9 and 100 men, though it usually hovers around 50). We know Yor is capable of doing this, but now that we also know the other assassins of Garden are as well, it begs the question; is Yor’s strength truly a unique thing in this world? And if it isn’t, what could be the source of it?

OSO-R, the drug used during the Tennis arc, was described as being in its trial stages. I originally chalked up it’s fast development time as just being part of manga logic, although I’m now starting to question that theory. It’s possible the roadmap for OSO-R has been around for much longer than first thought, and may find its traces back to when the war had just ended. Loid describes Garden as having been around for some time. We also know that Yor was just a child when she started up her assassination gig, so it’s possible that she and others like her may be have been exposed to a serum similar to OSO-R a decade or so before. Given Ostania’s track record of human experimentation, the scenario is possible.

Also going back to what Franky describes as “the shadow government”; it’s interesting that we’re hearing rumblings of a government operating outside the public’s view literally one chapter after we were just introduced to the concept of a royal class at some point in Ostania’s past. There’s a lot of things that cab be construed from this (such as Garden serving an authority that doesn’t necessarily align with Donovan and the government) but listing everything would just turn this review into one long-winded mess. So instead, we’re gonna entertain a fun theory- one that may or may not be true, but if it *does* end up being confirmed later on down that road, you heard it here first.

*ahem*

Mr. Green is a part of Garden.

Allow me to state my case.

When ch. 39 came out, I found it very unusual that a brand new character we haven’t seen before got a majority of the panel-time alongside Damian and the boys. It wasn’t very suspicious at the time, given that we’d just been introduced to Becky’s maid Martha, so we all just assumed Endo was building up his side characters a bit. For all intents and purposes, that may very well be the case.

However.

I know one person in particular who latched onto this panel right here, and for good reason; why would a security guard stationed at a school nowhere close to the border know about code words being used by people trying to cross over illegally? Yes, he was supposedly in the navy, but the way he phrases it here heavily implies that these code words are a recent affair, or at the very least are still being used currently. Why would he know that? Even if he was in the military, it’s information that has absolutely nothing to do with being in the navy.

Mr. Green is also very strong; strong enough to make the boys think they were going down rapids when in actuality it was just him rowing so fast. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever paddled a boat before, but it’s hard work- and it’s certainly difficult to the get that boat going at cruising speed, let alone fast enough to cause rapids. Yor’s the only one we’ve seen with strength like that and- yes, Green was supposedly in the navy, but at this point in time we don’t know anything else about him. We don’t know what he did after the war, nor do we know how he wound up in Eden Academy in the first place.

This is where we start going deep down the rabbit hole. Hang on.

This gentleman who we’ve never seen before is clearly aware that Garden exists, or at the very least is privy to Yor’s actual job. Much like how WISE has plants within Loid’s hospital, this man likely works to support Yor in some way. If such is the case, we can likely assume that- because the shadow government is supporting Garden- they would have their assassins posted in key areas for various reasons, likely to keep an eye out for traitors or to keep them spread out to cover a wide area should the need ever arise to deploy them.

We’ve only ever see Yor target traitorous politicians and outright terrorists (I realize this one is just a daydream, but you get my point). It would make sense, seeing as how she works at city hall and it would likely put her in an advantageous position when hunting them down. Of course, politicians aren’t the only people who might catch Garden’s attention. Given the amount of political and economic unrest that is currently going on in the country, there likely would be some people who would be fed up with the state of things. Such people may not be like Franklin Perkin- someone who would take direct action against the government- but instead would rather try to steer others towards a mindset that stands in opposition to Ostania. Such a person may try to target more impressionable people- people who are likely to listen and learn from an authority figure in their lives. People like...small children.

Eden students.

Garden. Eden. I see what you’re doing there, Endo.

Traitorous professors? Renegade academics? It would make sense to have a Garden assassin stationed at the most prestigious school in the country; the amount of information and contacts that are positioned around there are second to none, and what better way to suppress insurrection than at the source, at the very foundations of knowledge itself? Also, for kicks and giggles, let’s not forget that the name Mr. Green certainly fits with the plant motif Endo is going for with his assassin group (Garden. Thorn Princess. Briar. You catch my drift?)

Am I grasping at straws? Probably lol. I’d also like to reiterate that this is in no way all my thinking- a lot of crazy people put their brains together for this one, good or bad. But hey, it’s about all we can do until the next chapter! And at the very least, it’s a lot of fun to wonder what-if!

Also, BONUS

...She’s coming.

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2021

My Thoughts on The Final

🇨🇾 Cyprus / Elena Tsagrinou - El Diablo

Such a good choice for opening the final! I would have personally preferred Malta to open but ehhh who cares I FELL IN LOVE I FELL IN LOVE I GAVE MY HEART TO EL DIABLOOOOOO el diablooo I love this song it's so so so dumb

🇦🇱 Albania / Anxhela Peristeri - Karma

Why do I always notice Albania only in the semi finals when their boring song suddenly comes alive

🇮🇱 Israel / Eden Alene - Set Me Free

Mmeh. Ok. Idk.

🇧🇪 Belgium / Hooverphonic - The Wrong Place

I like this song a lot

🇷🇺 Russia / Manizha - Russian Woman

HER EYEBALLS I LIVE. YES. PLEASE. THANK YOU. MORE OF THIS. That gown is EXQUISITE.

🇲🇹 Malta / Destiny - Je Me Casse

This is a very good song to sing in the car!

🇵🇹 Portugal / The Black Mamba - Love Is On My Side

How did they make it to the final and will they do the Poland and get a massive amount of televotes? I hope not

🇷🇸 Serbia / Hurricane - Loco Loco

RRRAMBABBABAM I Have no idea how the lyrics are in reality but such a party!

🇬🇧 United Kingdom / James Newman - Embers

This is surprisingly good for a UK entry, the song is very good but the performance is underwhelming.

🇬🇷 Greece / Stefania - Last Dance

The more I look at this the more I hate the staging

🇨🇭 Switzerland / Gjon's Tears - Tout l'Univers

Such an excellent song I'm just afraid the performance is just a tiny bit too eccentric for an average casual viewer

🇮🇸 Iceland / Da∂i Freyr og Gagnamagni∂ - 10 Years

They're having so much fun I can tell!! I love that it's his family and friends and this whole thing is so cozy

🇪🇸 Spain / Blas Cantó - Voy A Querdarme

I don't hate this but like he had so much better song last year, this is just feels cheesy and I don't even understand the lyrics.

🇲🇩 Moldova / Natalia Gordienko - SUGAR

Yassss queeeen slaaaay

🇩🇪 Germany / Jendrik - I Don't Feel Hate

Gotta love the wiggle! I like this it's so cute

🇫🇮 Finland / Blind Channel - Dark Side

SUOMI PERKELE #JOIN #SÖIN

🇧🇬 Bulgaria / Victoria - Growing Up is Getting Old

Still boring. I mean sure it's a nice lovely song but mmmm not my cup of whatever

🇱🇹 Lithuania / The Roop - Discoteque

I need more yellow in my life

🇺🇦 Ukraine / Go_A - Shum

The only one that matters

🇫🇷 France / Barbara Pravi - Voilà

She is so beautiful her voice is so beautiful the song is beautiful voila douze points omelette du fromage

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan / Efendi - Mata Hari

This is imo the best of the dance songs especially the end is SO GOOOOOOD I AM SPINNING MY HAIR

🇳🇴 Norway / TIX - Fallen Angel

Most likeable person award goes to... But yea the song isn't too special.

🇳🇱 The Netherlands (Hosts) / Jeangu Macrooy - Birth of a New Age

So colourful! This stands out! The dancer is incredible!

🇮🇹 Italy / Måneskin - Zitti E Buoni

AAAAAAAAAAAAA the drummer has such gorgeous hair like hair goals absolutely yes gawd also please listen to their song I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE ITS EVEN BETTER THAN ZITTI E BUONI ok

🇸🇪 Sweden / Tusse - Voices

Wooow Sweden. I've said it before and I say it again the songwriters brainstormed all the clichés they could think of and organised them into a song and this is the result. Why it's always _in the rain_ please somebody tell me

🇸🇲San Marino / Senhit - Adrenalina

Valentina prepare that garden.

I'm so sad Denmark didn't qualify but overall I'm so happy with this whole final and it's so good to have a real Eurovision again!! So many good acts! I have no idea who's going to win (ok Ukraine or Finland please)!

Ok so I’ve done a complete re-read through and one thing that kept nagging at me was how little Gideon and Harrow’s relationship makes sense given its quite frankly abusive origins. Harrow spends her whole life making Gideon’s a living hell and Gideon just… forgives her. Total and complete forgiveness for an irredeemable girl.

At first I took the sudden shift in their relationship as lazy writing to rush along the end of the story, but that didn't make any sense either. Muir strikes me as an intensely purposeful writer. Then I remembered that Muir is also an intensely Catholic writer and it hit me. Muir isn’t writing a story about a healthy human relationship, oh no, she’s writing a story about Christ’s relationship with The Church… if Christ was a sword toting butch lesbian and The Church was a sardonic bone witch. Call it tender blasphemy. 

Now Gideon’s role as a Christ figure is fairly easy to parse out given that her dad is… God. But for the sake of self indulgence (I have to put my 15 year long flirtation with Christianity to use somehow) I’m going to go through all the parallels anyway. There are a LOT of them.

Let’s start at the very beginning (a very good place to start).

Miraculous Conception

Luke 1:34-38

34 But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I [e]am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the [f]holy Child will be called the Son of God. 

Gideon is conceived by artificial means when one of God’s own servants (Mercy) delivers a sample of John’s genetic material to Wake, a ‘normal’ human woman who chooses to carry Gideon in her womb. Notably, the sample lives far beyond its point of expected viability, thus making the conception somewhat miraculous (“Only the sample was still active, no idea how considering it was twelve weeks after the fact” HTN 441). 

The Cuckold

Matthew 1:18-25

18 Now the birth of Jesus the [a]Messiah was as follows: when His mother Mary had been [b]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to [c]send her away secretly. 

Gideon the First decides not to kill his lover, Wake, and releases her out the airlock (AND HE TOOK PITY ON ME! HE TOOK PITY ON ME! HE SAW ME AND HE TOOK PITY ON ME” from Harrow’s vision of Wake’s note, HTN 124) just as Joseph took pity on Mary, his betrothed, by deciding to divorce her quietly instead of making her infidelity public which would condemn her to death by public stoning (Deuteronomy 22:21). Gideon the First knew that Wake was pregnant and didn’t tell John because he thought the baby was his. Similarly, Joseph goes on to raise Jesus as his own son.

The Birth

Luke 2:7

And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a [f]manger, because there was no [g]room for them in the inn.

 Neither baby Jesus nor baby Gideon were given a proper cradle, one being laid to rest in a manger where the animals ate and the other stuffed in a transplant bio-container (GTN 23). 

The Dead Children

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

King Herod intends to kill the prophesied King of the Jews and instead of finding the specific baby, he just has a bunch of them slaughtered. However, Jesus escapes the slaughter of the innocents by Herod when his parents secret him away to Egypt.

 When the great aunts gas the nursery and kill the 200, Gideon is meant to die along with them but escapes her fate.

Now this event has a completely different biblical connotation for Harrow. 

Firstly, the murder of the 200 children represents Original Sin. In the bible, Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, and as their descendants, all of humankind is doomed to also bear the weight of that sin from the moment we are born until the day we die. This is a fact that is drilled into Christians as soon as we’re able to understand it, we are born wretched and unworthy sinners, and there’s nothing we can do ourselves to fix that. 

“I have tried to dismantle you, Gideon Nav! The Ninth House poisoned you, we trod you underfoot—I took you to this killing field as my slave—you refuse to die, and you pity me! Strike me down. You’ve won. I’ve lived my whole wretched life at your mercy, yours alone, and God knows I deserve to die at your hand. You are my only friend. I am undone without you.”

Harrow is a multitude, she is 200 children, the entire future of her house. Shes not just one human being,, she’s the whole damn church.

Naz/Nav

he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Although Gideon is not from the Ninth, she is given the Ninth name Nav when she arrives as a baby. Similarly, Jesus is known as Jesus of Nazareth, though that is not where he was born.

The Poor Bondservant

Jesus' role as a servant is emphasized many times in the bible. He was a carpenter's son born in a stable 

Philippians 2:5-8

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

 Gideon is described as being made “a very small bondswoman” (GTN 24)

The Sword

Matthew 10:34

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

The Wretched Sinner

Harrow is wretched, self loathing, and cruel. 

She is in thrall of the enemy of god, a figure who was once gods most favoured warrior, cast into hell.

She is like the depiction of the sinner who loves the devil

It's important to note that Harrow isn’t a single person, she is a multitude, the entire future of her people condensed into one body. 

The Enemy of God

20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, nholding in his hand the key to othe bottomless pit1 and a great chain. 2 And he seized pthe dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and qbound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into othe pit, and shut it and rsealed it over him, so that she might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

Before the fall, Satan was described as a “guardian cherub” who resided in the garden with God (Ezekiel 28:14) 

(a funny aside, in the bible the devil is known as the great deceiver but in HTN Muir specifies that Alecto is incapable of lying)

A Life of Abuse 

Isaiah 53:3

"He was despised and rejected by mankind,

    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces

    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem”

They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff" (Luke 4:28–29).

Gideon lives a life of mockery and is abused by Harrow.

An Unlikely Savior

Despite the fact that Gideon does not fit the expected image of a Cavalier, Harrow chooses Gideon to be her sword and protector.

Despite the many openings Gideon has to make Harrow pay for the pain she caused her, she remains loyal to her

Trust

Harrow realizes that she cannot face the lyctor trials without Gideon, and places her trust in her

Christians are told they must place their trust in jesus in order to reach salvation

Purifying Water

Acts 2:38

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Harrow confesses her sins to Gideon and puts herself at her mercy

Gideon forgives Harrow totally and completely, she baptises her

One Flesh

Mark 10:8

and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh.

“The imagery and symbolism of marriage is applied to Christ and the body of believers known as the church. The church is comprised of those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and have received eternal life. Christ, the Bridegroom, has sacrificially and lovingly chosen the church to be His bride” (x)

Ephesians 5:25-26

25 gHusbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and hgave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by ithe washing of water jwith the word,

They take the vow of necro and cav, one flesh one end

Gideon’s forgiveness of Harrow is reaffirmed

Harrow risks her life to stay and fight with Gideon, even if it means her death and thus the destruction of her death. Her love for Gideon is now greater than her love for the Body.

The Sacrifice

John 19:34

Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.

They will look on the one they have pierced'" (John 19:36–37).

Gideon chooses to die for Harrow, death by piercing

and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

In order to complete the lyctor process, Harrow both physically and spiritually consumes Gideon

Because of Gideon’s sacrifice, Harrow attains eternal life at the right hand of god

The Tomb

The Resurrection

1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus

Harrow turns her body into a tomb for Gideon, a tomb fashioned after that on the Ninth

Resurrection on the Third Day

Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24:46-47 

“So many months had passed: and yet, at the same time, she had only lost Gideon Nav three days ago. It was the morning of the third day in a universe without her cavalier: it was the morning of the third day—and all the back of her brain could say, in exquisite agonies of amazement, was: She is dead. I will never see her again.” (HTN 374)

Just in case you missed this important piece of information, Muir repeats it three times.

Go, and tell them, then, that he that was dead is alive, and lives for evermore, and has the keys of death and the grave,"

All Dbh Chapters

@kaydel your reply to my ask has inspired me to give my thoughts on each of the chapters.

Chapter 1: The Hostage

Is honestly a good first chapter, the tension and stakes are high, it pulls you in. There's a reason people who played the demo were hyped for the game. And regardless of what I think of Cage's writing, it's not the first time he's done a solid intro to a game. (Swiftly followed by garbage but I digress..)

We learn something about deviancy and how it starts, we get a sequence of dialogue based gameplay to set up how important it is to the story, and we get a taste of Connor’s somewhat underdeveloped investigation gameplay. 

I will admit that there are several lines I kind of like in this scene (’You can’t kill me, I’m not alive’ I’d like this even better if Bryan didn’t love it so much) And most of the outcomes are very cool! 

Chapter 2: Opening

Is not a chapter, it's the opening credits. It's not really interesting, but it's not as bad as Heavy Rain's, only because it's about half as long. Kara was robbed.

Chapter 3: Shades of Color

What a title am I right! And no, it's not just because of the paints. This chapter, title aside, isn't bad! We don't learn anything about Markus but it sets the world up nicely. It's one of the cooler open areas. It shows off the graphics nicely. 

And all of that is promptly ruined by the overly heavy-handed scene with the protesters. With the follow up of the back of the bus! Also the preacher guy is weird what was the point of that.

Chapter 4: A New Home

Easily one of the most (if not The Most) boring chapters in the game. Mundane QTEs? We all looooooove those! At the end of the chapter you get some exposition to a very nice composition (this game really would be nothing without the music) and that part is actually ok. But the mundane housework gameplay doesn’t get a pass, even if it is to give context for what the life of an android is like. Would be 100% better if there was 40% less housework.

Chapter 5: The Painter

A solid chapter! Learning about Markus through his interactions with Carl? An actual good narrative device? Unbelievable. At surface level their relationship is sweet and Carl is so supportive of Markus growing beyond his programming. Though there is a darker undertone that mirrors the caged android birds. And that it’s all a gilded cage. And I like both of those interpretations, they’re interesting. 

The music mini game is interesting the first time you do it but after that I’m never picking it again, chess it is from now on.

Chapter 6: Partners

Connor’s return after 5 chapters. I think that might be the longest break between appearances for any of them. Anyway this chapter is mostly fine. It sets up Hank and Connor’s troubled partnership and shows us what most of Connor’s gameplay is going to be. (Detective work and trying to reason with Hank) It would be interesting if there was an option to let Ortiz’ android go, seeing as there if a version of the scene where you don’t find him. But I guess it’s too early for Connor to be disobeying.

Chapter 7: Stormy Night

Classic David Cage has women being abused by men! Unfortunately this is one of Kara’s best chapters. The tension from the very first moment if real, and as soon as Alice runs up stairs, you just know what’s going to happen. Without fail, every person I’ve ever watched, immediately tries to follow her. Honestly? Solid way to make me care about the kid. 

I know some folks have problems with showing child abuse on screen, but my opinion is that they kept the worst of it as implied, like in the failed ending of the chapter, you don’t see it actually happen. So I’m personally okay with it, but I can understand why some may disagree.

10/10 for the chase/escape scene. It’s stressful as hell but honestly the music just makes it...like idk the moment Kara deviates? I nearly, literally screamed the first time. The build up to it is so good, and you as the player are determined to protect Alice and will fight through the programming to do it.

Chapter 8: Broken

Gonna be honest, Markus’ deviating scene falls a little flatter for me. I’ve watched several people play for the first time and actively not want to break programming and retaliate. Which makes the fact that its a scripted event you can’t avoid frustrating to them. I guess we just haven’t seen any anger from him yet so it doesn’t feel like the reaction you expect? (I get that it’s supposed to be him finally cracking, the story just...doesn’t convey that very well.)

Also the fact that you get punished for staying silent with Carl dying is shitty.

Chapter 9: The Interrogation 

Talk about fucking tense! This scene is a real challenge, in either difficulty. Unless you don’t care about the android self-destructing? 

I don’t have much else to say, it’s not a bad scene but there’s not a lot of substance to it. The ‘the day will come when we will no longer be slaves’ line is...the start of the truly terrible writing choices in this game.

Chapter 10: Fugitives

Not a bad scene. Getting to choose to steal a bunch of stuff is fun, and the fact that you can steal all this shit and then go and sleep in the car is pretty funny. I don’t like the house or Ralph, just because it’s another chance to put a female character at risk from a male character. 7/10 I’m never picking the house. (Also did you know you can fail to steal from that guy in the laundromat and he wakes up lmao)

Chapter 11: From The Dead

Ok this is going to be kind of a controversial opinion...but I’m tired of this scene. While it’s true that no scene in the game holds up on the 20th watch/play, this scene lost most of it’s shock value on the 3rd watch. Now that being said, the sound design in the scene is brilliant. And putting the audio processor back in does still give me chills, but the rest of the scene? I mean, I guess cannibalising other androids is a pretty powerful story action. But the fact that you can take all of the things you need from dead androids if you search hard enough kind of ruins that for me. 

Also idk why but everyone collectively thinks that Markus screams when he reaches the top of the slope and I have no idea why.

Chapter 12: Waiting For Hank

Boooooooring. Ok, getting beat up by Gavin after refusing to make him coffee is mildly interesting. But the fact that Hank just hates you in the scene is honestly quite tiring. Like, his opinion of Connor will inevitably go down at least once, you can’t avoid that. Also there’s nothing to explore in the office so...

Chapter 13: On The Run

Both versions of this scene are very tense. And not in...a super fun way. Like ok, Kara has that empowering woman moment where she cuts her hair, great, but the rest of the scene isn’t that good. (And the version with Ralph is downright disturbing.) 

Chapter 14: Jericho

Oh god let’s players cannot do this part. And the amount of time I’ve spent watching people run around clueless because they weren’t paying even the slightest attention or follow the obvious path, makes me hate this chapter. I also hate it because the gameplay isn’t very interesting. Markus’ precog is mildly interesting, but that’s really it. (The end of this chapter has some pretty stunning visuals tho)

Chapter 15: The Nest

Ok, the opening conversation with Hank is cute if Connor is trying to be nice. Though the actual chase is pretty tense. The music is on point as always, because the composers for this game were very overqualified for the job. Also the fact that you get punished for not saving Hank both amuses and vexes me. You don’t catch the guy because you were a shitty partner. But what was the point of taking the risk with Hank if there’s no reward? (Yes I know he still ends up in evidence lock up but that’s hardly reward enough for risking your partner’s life)

I mean okay the pigeons flying through the roof is pretty funny, but the investigation in the apartment isn’t all that interesting. Also I’ve just realised I haven’t mentioned the Zen Garden once but honestly most of the scenes there aren’t that interesting anyway.

Chapter 16: Time To Decide

Wow where do I start on how uninteresting this chapter is. You learn very little about Markus’ companions, you get to have a conversation with a magical minority, and you get a line about an android being dragged behind the back of a car. (After reading the wiki about James Byrd I feel genuinely sick and could not be more disgusted that this was used so clumsily in the game.)

Chapter 17: Zlatko

His name sounds like a brand. Also this is my least favourite Kara chapter. They go to his place for almost no reason (just so they can get caught) and we get a 20 minute scene of Zlatko being a cartoonish monster of a man. Also this has been pointed out and now I can’t stop thinking about it. Why is Kara scared of Luther when she sees him? Like...??? Anyway re-finding her memories is boring, finding Alice is also boring, and hiding from Zlatko is just stressful. Nothing interesting to the story happens here, except that Luther joins Kara and Alice.

Chapter 18: Russian Roulette 

Perhaps the shortest chapter in the game. It’s not like...super boring, but it’s not interesting either. Also don’t forget to notice the picture on the table or you’ll have no chance of getting the good ending later! Seriously, they should have made it a requirement for the scene to move on if it’s going to be that important.

Chapter 19: Spare Parts

The whole freerunning thing at the start is lame. And the fact that you have to grab the android and then release him to get the best outcome is confusing as hell. (I have seen many folks fuck this up.) The part where you sneak around in the guard house is actually kind of cool. Also North go down if you’re nice to people....I love this game.

Chapter 20: The Eden Club

Pity the lesbian sexworker androids!!! In all seriousness though this is a chapter I do not like. The endings are unfulfilling, the whole storyline is gross, poorly written and very Cage-esque. (Also why would you make the two android lovers the same model?! Just make one of them one of the other 8 female WR800 models you have!) I mean I guess I can say that the glowly design of the sexclub is nice or whatever.

Chapter 21: Pirate’s Cove

Ok this is a personal one but I don’t like this chapter. Something about the family dynamic between the three falls flat for me and so the whole scene being about them makes it...ehh. Also Kara under threat again! Woohoo! The scene on the carousel is kind of cute and the scene composition is nice, but the fact that all the Jerrys are standing around watching is a little weird. Also bait us with rA9 crap why don’t you! we’ll just never learn anything about this i guess

Chapter 22: The Bridge

I like this chapter to be honest. I know Pirate’s Cove is meant to be relaxed but I find this chapter more relaxing. Even if it ends with a gun to Connor’s head. I mean it’s not that hard to not get shot really. And seeing Hank start to care and question their mission is interesting. I don’t know, I guess I just like the visuals of the snow and the bridge. (Anyone notices that it goes from raining to snowing like three days later, wtf)

Chapter 23: The Stratford Tower

Now this one is complicated. Because I like the breaking in and getting up to the broadcast department part, I even like the pre-speech tension. Markus carrying the weight of history and knowing his words will shape what people across the world think of androids. 

The music as he gets ready to start the speech is....just so good. But then he starts talking and.....mmmmm press x for civil right yes please! Press square to end slavery? Absolutely! God...the writing in this scene is Bad. Which is a shame! Because it squanders the carefully crafted tension built up until this point. I like the energy going into this scene, the idea that they’re about to take a stand, make history. But it is unfortunately ruined for the sake of a poorly executed racism allegory.

Chapter 24: Public Enemy

Ok, going to investigate the crime scene of what you just did as Markus is pretty good. Its not an original idea, that was the opening sequence for Indigo Prophecy, but it still works I’m not going to lie. Also the cop from the Hostage showing up to thank you if you saved him is cute. The fact that Hank is starting to question Connor and look for signs of deviancy in him is also nice! Also I hate it but going after Simon gives you a more cohesive storyline if you’re going for a deviant Connor route. (Can I get an F for Simon? He can die so many different ways)

Chapter 25: Midnight Train

Can’t believe that the chapter about the underground railroad is literally called Midnight Train. Yeah the dialogue in this? Shocking, terrible, absolutely unforgivable. Rose I am so sorry this happened to you. Also a cop arrives to....put Kara in peril at the hands of a male character again! Can’t go a chapter without that!

Chapter 26: Capitol Park

Hmmmmmmmmm. ‘We have a dream’? ‘I can’t breathe, but I’m still alive’? Hi, yes, hello? David Cage is doing it again, yeah he’s co-opting black history for his story about androids, somebody needs to stop him. Why did no one stop him.  

Ok, most of this chapter other than that is ok. It’s not particularly good, but it’s ok. (wiLL yOu bE gOoD oR eViL?!?!1)

Chapter 27: Meet Kamski

Ok this man is so creepy and emotionally manipulative and as a narrative tool I’ve actually come to love it. Like the tone of this chapter is such a breath of fresh air. Maybe it’s just the fact that they added a new character after such a long time and that he knows more than he ever lets on. rA9 baited again...

Also this is Connor’s turning point in a way. You can still choose to change your path later on, but this is the real moment of truth where a character pushes him to reveal where he’s at. (Also the fucking MUSIC)

Chapter 28: Freedom March

Oh no. I’m so sorry Markus you deserve better. I hate this chapter if you can’t tell. The combo of the black history slogans and the jesus music is too much for me. Also the good ending is locked behind Simon being alive/Spare Parts success route??? Also F for that random android who’s name is John that we hear about twice.

Chapter 29: Last Chance, Connor

I usually keep a low profile with Gavin so I miss out on the beatdown unfortunately. But having the option is hilarious. If you don’t sacrifice at the march, Simon is alive, interrogation bad end, Rupert and the Tracis escape....can you even find Jericho?

Just a thought, anyway this is short but tense chapter. Don’t hate it.

Chapter 30: Crossroads

Kara’s part of this is dumb as hell. The Alice twist literally destroys the storyline but anyway...

Markus has very little to do until the end. His version is ok, but Jesse’s line delivery leaves something to be desired. (You’re one of us....)

Connor’s is easily the most interesting of the three concurrent stories at this point. Going in to capture Markus/North, chasing them through the hold if ur a machine..very good. 

And....going deviant. Okay yes that still gets me, I did actually shout YES!! out loud the first time I witnessed it. The music’s slow build in the scene, and most of the dialogue (if you choose carefully) swells to this point and...and..it happens!! 

Like idk I’ve only been slowly building up to this for 9 hours, sue me.

Chapter 31: Night Of The Soul

I like this chapter! Or Markus’ version anyway. Connor’s...well the Hank version is just sad. The Jericho version is fine.

But Markus? Visiting Carl’s grave or the man himself is such an emotional moment for the character. And the single humanising moment he’s had in several chapters. The conversation is so weighted with his doubts and fears and Jesse Williams gives a beautiful performance! (Also as I’ve said, the alarm system saying ‘welcome home markus’ kills me on impact)

Chapter 32: Battle For Detroit

Is a good chapter. What, did you expect me to say it isn’t? Cause it is. Or some versions of it are.

The tension in all three characters stories, regardless of which version, is perfectly hit at this point.

Kara’s....ah fuck idk I mean the border version is ok? The others....kind of suck? The guy letting them through with high public opinion and Markus doing a peaceful demonstration is kind of cute and sort of makes sense in a way.

Markus’ versions (both in which he is alive) are pretty cool. The revolution is hard, and I do like that it ends with him saying that they haven’t won, they’ve only started a war. The demonstration is kind of dumb, and I actually prefer them getting shot and then the news anchors suggesting that maybe androids are people in their own right that humans refused to acknowledge. (Feels more real, ya know?) Also black folk song!! Why??

Gonna be real, most of Connor’s versions of this scene are pretty good. Cyberlife tower is tense as hell but he’s a fucking badass. Machine Connor on the roof gives us the best line in the game. ‘What’s up lieutenant, ran out of whiskey so you came here looking for trouble?’  

So that’s some of my thoughts on each of the chapters of dbh, I could go into more depth but my eyes hurt and I’ll probably hit post limit soon.

Ok, can I talk a little thing (or two) about Good Omens impressions?

Or actually, can I talk a little about the development of their love story as shown in the (glorious) third episode?

I was re-watching the series with my husband and, when it came to this specific episode, some things came to my mind while watching the marvelous half an hour of it that I’d like to put into words for a better understanding, for me and for y’all that maybe agree with me.

First of all, I’m gonna start from the idea that Crowley wasn’t primarily in love with him since the Garden of Eden, but acquired a heavy interest, almost an obsession, towards Aziraphale (the first angel that treated him as an equal) that slowly translated into pure affection (and eventual love) throughout 6000 years together. Where this transition occurred is not clear during the scenes, since the whole flashback is told from the angel’s point of view… except the 1967 scene, and this is important.

Secondly, I’ve already seen many people discussing that, in the 1941 church scene, Aziraphale didn’t found out he was in love with Crowley, but that he was being loved back, and I personally agree with this thinking line. This is also very important.

Why? Let’s go back a little bit…

(This is gonna be long, please bear with me…)

So, based on what’s written in the book, Aziraphale and Crowley agreed on sealing the Arrangement in 1020 AD, and the series showed very well the changes in their dynamics between 537 AD (before the Arrangement) and 1601 (after the Arrangement), where I’ll start.

Aziraphale leaves this marvelously obvious when he basically smiles at the sight of Crowley (even though he also smiled when saw him at Rome in 41 AD) and, well, asking for extra favors with that puppy eyes of him…

(and Crowley accepting, which is adorable in my opinion)

They’re doing favors to each other for almost 600 years by then, seeing each other more frequently than ever, so yes, they’re already seeing each other as friends (or at least kind of coworkers). Is Crowley spoiling the angel and said angel is starting to take advantage of this demon’s tendency? Absolutely. But romance…? Maybe not yet.

And then, well, comes French Revolution and Aziraphale is locked in the Bastille in the verge of being discorporated and Crowley comes to the rescue. Maybe the angel hadn’t fallen in love yet with the demon, but I’m in favor of the theory that, being the bastard that we already noticed he can be, Aziraphale walked into France aware he wasn’t appropriately suited for the historical moment (and with a miracle restraint) hoping to run into Crowley. So, yeah, that would justify the literal stars that shone in his eyes when he listened to his demon’s voice:

I could screenshot this entire scene piece by piece to prove my point, but I won’t, ok? The entire development leaves clear their mutual pining and how used to Crowley being always there Aziraphale became in those 770 years of Arrangement, to the point of risking his human form in the name of gluttony, almost in a leap of faith because he was sure Crowley would save him at the end.

(Aaaand he does all this not so little selfish things conscious that they could bring problems to Crowley, as he mentioned during the Globe Theatre scene, but the demon keeps doing anyway just to please his angel… Is Crowley already in love? Probably yes)

And then we arrive in 1862, and that for me was the breaking point in their relationship. Up to now, as I mentioned, Aziraphale always had the certainty that Crowley would be there for him, but this drastically changes here. I have my own thoughts about the holy water situation, and what amazes me the most is the fact that, instead of reading Crowley’s request as “I want holy water so I have a weapon to use against other demons if they ever come to me”, he read like “I want holy water to end my own life in case everything goes wrong”.

You can see, right here, his change of posture:

What does it mean? Simply that, for the first time in 5840 years, Aziraphale felt the fear of really losing Crowley, forever, no coming back, and panicked. The panic was big enough to label their relationship as other thing than friendship (probably as a defense mechanism against the fear of losing, even what they have done all those millenia is, indeed, fraternizing), which enrages Crowley: So what you’re saying is that I’ve been fooling myself all these centuries thinking of you as a friend, as someone I could trust my fucking demon life???

Thinking about it while writing, the whole “I-don’t-need-you-And-the-feeling-is-mutual-obviously” sounds like pure bickering from both sides trying to hurt the other. Do they succeed into it? Marvelously: they stop talking to each other, Crowley probably goes to his century-long nap (while hating himself for the fact that he knows he loves the angel, otherwise he wouldn’t be so angry with the fraternizing thing), and Aziraphale starts attending Gentlemen’s Clubs to forget his sorrows and try to detach from Crowley (any ficwriter can insert Oscar Wilde right here in Azi’s life). Their relationship ruins from here, and they’ll never be the same.

So, we arrive at 1941, both angel and demon living their lives fully apart from each other… but Crowley is unable to refrain himself from worrying about his angel. And then, that pathetic excuse of a demon, aware that Aziraphale was manipulated by the Nazis to hand over his precious books and was about to be discorporated again, enters a church, steps on consecrated ground and diverges a whole enemy attack to save the angel he loves.

Meanwhile, Aziraphale really considers he’s totally alone this time (i.e. without the guarantee of Crowley being around, because he barely knows if he still exists), doomed, forced to being discorporated and having to deal with celestial paperwork… Look at the despair in his eyes:

Thankfully, things go well and the two escape miraculously from the explosion, and Aziraphale can breathe again, like things can almost go back to how they were before. Almost.

 And then comes The Scene:

And that’s here, the exact moment, when Crowley, more than saving his life (which, btw, he had no obligation to do), also saved his books, that Aziraphale actually feels Crowley’s love for him emanating for the first time, and it leaves the angel absolutely astonished. His feelings are being returned for real, and he honestly doesn’t know what to do about it.

Look at him, look at his eyes and dare to tell me this isn’t pure love??? He thought he lost his friend, but in the end he came back in his aid, like some sort of knight in a shining armor… and also saves everything he cares about!! (bonus points for the romantic soundtrack, Mr. Arnold)

Poor Aziraphale. (evil laugh)

Finally, we arrive at 1967, where this whole consideration came from. As I said, this is the only scene from Crowley’s POV, and there’s a reason to it: up to this point, Aziraphale is finally certain of his own feelings and that he’s actually being reciprocated, but the other side isn’t. So, while Crowley keeps going with his plan, the angel decided to pay back the gesture from 1941 by providing the Holy Water he needs so much.

What does it mean? It means for Aziraphale an opportunity to stop Crowley from hurting himself again or being caught by Heaven’s lot during the robery (even if providing said water causes trouble to himself), but mostly is another leap of faith to both sides: Aziraphale is willing to trust that Crowley won’t kill himself with Holy water while asking Crowley to trust his word and keep the fucking tartan thermos closed until it’s needed (which he actually does).

So, what I really, really wanted to reach is this specific point:

Tbh, their interpretation was crucial to me here because, let’s be real, the dialogue in this scene is very subtle in its real meaning. This moment is Crowley’s time to realize and understand what’s going on with Aziraphale through the last hundred years, and it hits him like a rock: his angel loves him enough to go against his own principles to attend his request, sacrificing his rationality and risking being discovered. He’s right there, by his side, raw and truly open like he wasn’t for centuries, letting the demon sense his own feelings for the very first time. So yes, after everything he said, Crowley, he loves you back.

And, interesting enough, what’s his first reaction after acknowledging this fact? Offer a ride, wanting to spend some time with his beloved angel and, who knows, make up for lost time. But Aziraphale feels too fragile, too uneasy, about the fact that he opened himself for Crowley and now the demon truly knows his feelings, and needs time to rebuild his walls and create a convincing facade that’ll deceive his lot he has nothing to do with his hereditary enemy. He wants to reciprocate Crowley, but now like that, it’s too early for him yet: Don’t expect me to accept your advances right away, I’m feeling too vulnerable right now and I’m afraid that I’ll let you consume me completely if I surrender in my current state, so please respect my time.

Interesting enough, Crowley actually kept his cool facade in 1941, when he let the angel see his true feelings, something that seemed impossible to Aziraphale when he did the same. He’s an angel, after all, he’s unable to lie!

This way, he’ll probably only understand Aziraphale’s insecurities when he goes through the same situation, or at least the closest he’ll get: while the angel feared losing the demon, the demon really lost the angel, and with him his stability, his other half, his world:

And suddenly, running away from the Apocalypse didn’t matter anymore, to the point the sunny ballad of “You’re My Best Friend” turns into the anguished prayer of “Somebody to Love”.

Ineffable Husbands Number 10

“The verdant vaulted cathedral of their worship.” (the actual line doesn’t appear in this fic but i used it more as inspiration for the setting, hope that’s ok!)

Crowley leans against the railingencircling the wide, shallow pool at the center of the botanical garden. Hewatches lily pads float lazily by, their pale pink and yellow flowers standingout against the dark water. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Aziraphaleputtering around on the other side of the greenhouse, cooing indistinctly overa towering fern near one of the high, glass walls. He trails his fingertipslightly over its outstretched leaves.

“You know Crowley,” Aziraphale saysbrightly, “I think these plants just might give yours a run for their money.This is some of the loveliest greenery I’ve ever had the pleasure of layingeyes on.”

“Hm,” Crowley hums absently,turning his head ever so slightly to look at Aziraphale. “They are rather nice,though I can’t speak to how… disciplined they are.” He eyes a dark spot nearthe edge of one of the lily pads. “But, you can’t expect the people tending toa massive garden like this to give the plants the level of individual attentionthat mine receive.”

Aziraphale scoffs. “That’s certainlyone way of putting it.”

He straightens up, strollingcasually over to Aziraphale. He peers over the angel’s shoulder, looking moreat his soft, stubby fingers than at the actual plant. “Remind you of anything?”he murmurs, his lips hardly an inch away from Aziraphale’s ear.

Aziraphale gives Crowley a look. “Notevery garden can be Eden, you know,” he chides, a small smile playing on hislips.

“Oh, come on, don’t tell me itdoesn’t take you back to the good old days at least a little.”

“I suppose this garden reminds meof The Garden as much as any bookshop reminds me of My Bookshop,” he concedes,sidestepping away from Crowley to examine a group of hanging plants. “It’s justa bit too… manufactured to really feel like Eden.”

He has a point. Despite the lush,vaguely tropical plants surrounding them, the greenhouse lacks the liveliness thatEden had. Everything is too manicured, too controlled, too static. The sloping greenhousewalls around them make the whole space feel like a terrarium or a new age-ychurch more than anything else. He clicks his tongue disappointedly. “They justdon’t make gardens like they used to,” he mutters.

“Don’t make anything like they usedto, really.”

Crowley doesn’t reply. He goes backto the edge of the pond, vaulting easily over the railing and landing—albeit alittle unsteadily—on one of the lily pads. It sinks beneath the surfaceslightly, water lapping at the bottom of his shoes, but otherwise holds hisweight. He steps onto another lily pad, slowly making his way across the water.

“After we’re through here we shouldgo see the—” Aziraphale cuts himself off, turning in time to see Crowley’slittle balancing act. He shoots a disapproving look at him. “Come out of there,”he says, speaking much like a parent attempting to wrangle an unusuallyprecocious child.

Crowley extends a hand toAziraphale. “Join me.”

He shakes his head. “You’re goingto get soaked if you keep on like that.”

He shrugs. “A little water neverhurt anyone.”

“You know just as well as I do thatthat’s not true.”

Crowley takes his sunglasses off,tucking them into the breast pocket of his jacket. He bats his eyelashesinnocently. “Come on,” he coaxes, arm still outstretched to the angel. “PromiseI won’t let you fall in.”

Aziraphale rolls his eyes, mutteringsomething unintelligible under his breath.

He lifts his free hand to cup oneof his ears. “Didn’t quite catch that.”

“I said you can’t just makeeyes at me and expect me to do whatever you ask,” he replies snippily.

“Well, it’s worked nearly everyother time I’ve tried,” Crowley says. “Seems like my odds are pretty good.”

Aziraphale huffs, reluctantlyshrugging off his coat. He folds it neatly, setting it on the ground a safedistance away from the pool. Hesitantly, he approaches the railing, climbingover it with some difficulty. “If I fall in, I will never let you hear the endof it,” he grumbles. “And it’ll be on you to miracle me dry again.”

“You’re not going to fall.”

Aziraphale stretches out one leg,testing the sturdiness of the nearest pad with his foot. He seems doubtful asto its structural integrity, but steps onto it nevertheless. The pad remains stable,holding Aziraphale up as if he weighed nothing at all.

“See?” Crowley murmurs. “That wasn’tso bad.”

“Oh, hush.” He continues takingcautious little steps across the large, round leaves until he finally reachesCrowley on the other side. “Happy?”

“Delighted.” He takes Aziraphale’shand gently into his own, hoping to ease some of his worries about falling intothe pond.

Aziraphale still looks thoroughlydispleased, but doesn’t protest. “Well, now what?”

Crowley gives Aziraphale’s hand aslight tug, pulling him and the lily pad just a little closer. “What would youlike?”

“I’d like to be on dry land.”When met with Crowley’s unblinking stare he sighs and adds, “Some music mightbe nice? Something… sweet.”

Crowley snaps his fingers. An oldfashioned gramophone in absolutely pristine condition appears a few feet awayfrom the pond. The first few notes of Chopin’s Nocturne begin to play. “How’sthat?”

This earns him a lovely littlesmile from Aziraphale. “Not the type of sweet I was imagining, but—”

“I could change it, if—”

“Don’t change it.” He gives Crowley’shand a squeeze. “I love this piece.”

Without thinking, Crowley raisesAziraphale’s hand to his lips. He presses a quick kiss against the angel’sknuckles, glancing up at him through his lashes to gauge his reaction.

Aziraphale’s round cheeks flushever so slightly and he looks away. “Crowley…”

“Aziraphale,” he says, copying histone. Feeling bold, he dares to deliver a second kiss to the back of Aziraphale’spalm.

“Someone could see,” hewhispers, eyes darting nervously around the greenhouse.

“There’s no one here.” He had madesure of that.

“But Crowley—”

He turns Aziraphale’s hand over,kissing the inside of his wrist. “If you want me to stop, tell me to stop. Tell me to stop and I promise I will.”

Aziraphale says nothing. Crowleygrins to himself, victorious.

Ok so in the first 3 scenes of the Aziraphale/Crowley time-lapse, crowley approaches Aziraphale. In those scenes, its reasonable to assume they are both there on business. Both were assigned to the Garden of Eden, and the Ark and the Crucifixion were notable events that a representative of heaven and hell were probably supposed to attend. In all three of these scenes, crowley sees aziraphale and approaches him first. Also worth noting is that they both only seem to be observing the events. I think Crowley’s motivation in approaching aziraphale is that he wants someone on earth to talk to, and this is irrelevant to the point but I also think he shows up late to the ark and the crucifixion on purpose for his own demonic reasons and thats why he sees aziraphale before aziraphale sees him. I imagine crowley’s inner monologue to be something like ‘well heres another keystone in human history, oh look theres that angel im going to go talk to him and pay very little attention to the events unfolding in front of me”.

Conversely, in the Greece scene Aziraphale approaches Crowley first, and I head canon that it happens like this: Crowley has to go to Greece for important demonic business. He doesn’t want to, and hes going to be pissed about it the whole time. So he goes to greece, super grumbly, orders a drink and then theres Aziraphale saying hello and walking over to sit with him, and hes like oh no, i dont have time to socialize i need to work. So he makes small talk, and is still grumbly, and then aziraphale says “why let me tempt you to- oh wait, thats your thing isn't it?” and that catches him by surprise and aziraphale has a shit eating grin bc he knows exactly what he did, and thats the moment crowley realizes hes never going to get any work done if aziraphale is in the vicinity.

Then theres the knights scene, where I figure crowley is like well shit my angel crush is here guess ill leave, and at some point between then and the shakespeare scene they establish the arrangement, and ill skip that cause it wasn't very interesting to me.

Now what is interesting to me is the Bastille scene, because the moment aziraphale realizes crowley is there with him his eyes light up and he grins like an idiot until he remembers that oops angels shouldn't be so excited to see demons. I like this scene best out of the whole flashback sequence because they meet as friends here. Theres no business reason for either of them to be where they are, aziraphale came for the crepes and crowley came for aziraphale.

i think i might have had a point when i started writing this but I’ve forgotten it because i was excited to rant about my headcanon that crowley is less bad at being a demon and more easily distracted by his angel crush, and also that the smile and spin that aziraphale does in the bastille is my favourite moment in the show

So I really loved @skyrina 's post on what Rook and Joseph's relationship would be like because it suckerpunched me right in the feels, and while I've been lying here in a daze from cold medicine I got to thinking about why they might end up separated in New Dawn.

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When they first step out of the bunker after their 7 year hiatus I imagine they're both pretty devastated by what they see. Joseph probably ends up in some kind of existential crisis spiral because what was even the point, Voice?! He did everything you asked. This post-nuclear apocalypse landscape is not exactly the garden of Eden he had imagined. All of the survivors don't seem particularly pleased to see him, and they definitely have not changed their sinful ways. (Joseph @ the voice: "I'm not having the fun you promised me!") He's much less pleasant to live with once he and Rook leave their little bunker love bubble.

The reality of post-bunker life hits Rook even harder. After all, over these past 7 years, the question and posibilities of "what if I had just walked away?" kept playing out in their head. Was there a way they could've saved everyone? Why couldn't any of the Seed family have just backed down?? Rook didn't want to kill them, it was kill or be killed! And killing them wasn't really the "opening of the seals" which kicked off the apocalypse. It wasn't.

....Was it? After 7 years of listening to Joseph and his almost hypnotizing spiels on how they are the chosen ones, sometimes Rook catches themself wondering if Joseph was right about everything. What if there was a chance this entire thing was Rook's doing? The logical part of them says of course not, it was just a coincidence. Our world had been tiptoeing towards this exact kind of bullshit self-annihilation for a long time, we were just too willfully ignorant to notice it. But after all this time together in the bunker there's a significant, perhaps self-hating, part of them that secretly thinks Joseph is right about everything. Then the day comes when they leave the bunker and once again Rook's entire reality is turned upside down.

At first Rook and Joseph are inseparable because they've been each other's life for the past 7 years. But eventually they have to acknowledge and readjust to the new (old?) reality: Joseph was wrong. On the other hand he's been the only constant Rook has known for the past 7 years. They've come to know and understand each other on a level no one else ever could, and Rook can't imagine their life without him being a part of it. There is love there in some form. But....Joseph was also wrong.

All of the memories and feelings from the pre-bunker events come rushing back to Rook and it's....a lot to deal with. Their grief and rage and guilt all fight for attention and all of a sudden they can't trust themselves not to hurt anyone. That dark part of themselves they thought they had conquered over the last 7 years, the part John had made sure they would never forget every time they looked in the mirror, starts to rear its ugly head again. They start to feel that old familiar wrath beginning to creep back in. But this time will be different. They won't let themselves be responsible for anyone else's death. Especially Joseph's. So like any healthy, well-rounded individual facing a difficult situation they just.... run away.

They don't know where they're going, all they know is they have to put some distance between them and Joseph in case they end up doing something they regret. This mess of confused feelings will calm down again they're sure. It will all work out. They just need some time and space. After all, they've been cooped up underground together for 7 years. It'll be good for them both to have some time apart.

Little did they know of the types of criminals and gangs the apocalypse would breed. Without really meaning to Rook ends up becoming the local vigilante, rescuing clueless wanderers one after another from ruthless gangs that patrol the area. The crime rate in this post-apocalypse world is really quite something. Rook starts to get a bit of a reputation, and one person even swears they recognize them from "the old cult days" which results in the getup and mask Rook now wears (whoops guess I've got my heart set on that theory). They don't need people reminding them of their past - they just want to forget everything for a little while.

All of sudden it's been a whole year since they left Joseph and...life is actually going ok? I mean relatively, as ok as things can be in a post-apocalyptic world. Rook hasn't felt out of control or consumed by wrath since they left. As much as they miss Joseph, and are tempted to visit their other surviving friends back in what was Hope County, they decide that life is better this way for everyone. At least for now. They're scared that going back and seeing Joseph will set something off in them. Or god forbid they go back to visit the new Prosperity base and somehow, of the few music collections that survived, one of them includes "Only You". They just can't take that risk. It's safer for everyone if Rook isn't around. So they resign themselves to the life of an outcast. For now.

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[[ Ubisoft are just gonna be like: naaaahh bro they just got sick of each other, wouldn't you be sick of someone if you were stuck in a bunker with them for 7 years??? Lolllll gurl you thought!!!! XD ]]

How They Met Chapter 22

A/n: Hey!!! So I’m updating early for this week. I normally save it for this weekend but.... I hit a milestone. I’ve been on this site for six years and I just broke 200 followers! None of which are porn bots or porn blogs! I am in shock.  On another note, the document I have this story in, is getting so large it crashes my phone. :) So... Thank you all who read and please enjoy this latest chapter! 

@valkyrieofardyn @shigekihizashi @blindedstarlight @lola-mcevil13 @the-altissian-authors

So after a quick lunch filled with jokes and pokes at each other, we finally headed outside. The sun was shining and there was an amazing vibe among everyone. I walked next to him happily talking and just admiring the sights. The ride up to the church was amazing and I even got a couple more photos of me and him just sitting together on the gondola and of the waterfalls in the area. It was gorgeous out here. It was even better once we stopped. We got access through an iron gate and I thought I walked into the garden of Eden. The scent in the air was so sweet but not too strong. So many colors and types of flowers were in here. There was even a fountain further back I could hear. I felt ardyn get my hand gently and I smiled.

“What did they do? Shoot down a piece of Heaven?”

“I’m not sure… but this is one of the more special gardens in the world. The royal one in tenebrae and Insomnia rival this one only by a little.” I nodded then and smiled before taking off. He followed easily and for the better part of the day we explored the wrap around garden. The fountain was set up to look like the tide mother so I made sure to get a photo of it. Then we found the rose arches. I was in bliss then. The scent was everywhere and they had every color believable. All were thornless as well so I could touch them. I never wanted to leave them but there was still more to see. I made sure to get a photo of it down at the end though so I could remember. I never wanted to forget them. The rest was local flowers they were trying to save from going extinct. There were some rather beautiful ones in there. I could understand why they were protecting them. One smelled just like home honestly and made that slight twinge of homesickness come back. I really did miss lucis but I was happy with my choice. I had found love after all.

We spent close to three hours there just wandering around talking. He loved fauna but more often than not… I think he was just watching me have fun. I didn’t mind. Not even when the rain started. We were leaving when it did. I had only a cute umbrella to protect me when I saw her. Commodore highwind was on the steps of the church talking to ravus. I gasped when I saw her and ran down.

“Highwind!” She looked up then and smiled.

“Hey. The huntress from across the way. What brings you here? Checking out the would be wedding?”

“Nah. The garden!!! Its huge!” She nodded then and smiled.

“I never would have taken you as a flower girl… But alright. Is your lover with you?” I blushed a bit then.

“Um yes. Ardyn's here.” She gave me this look until she saw my hand.

“Oh….” I nodded then and smiled.

“I’m not sure if he..”

“Gotcha. Well… this is good then. Congrats hon. Hope you stay happy.” I nodded then as I heard him.

“Ah commodore. Here about the message I sent you?”

“Yes sir. I can have one ready before ten and from there we can catch a train in tenebrae.” I felt him get my shoulder then. This didn’t sound right to me.

“That works. I can meet you there in Tenebrae and ride the rails back home with you all. I have a meeting here still.” She nodded and I looked up.

“Wait… It’s time to go already?”

“Sadly, yes. Even with the postponement of the ceremony, First Secretary Claustra is eager to get the imperial presence out of her city. So… I figured if we leave now,,, gives you more time to get used to the attitude in Gralea.” I nod slowly and sigh.

“Damn… I was having fun here.” Aranea smiled then.

“You can always make him bring you back. Altissia isn’t going anywhere for a while.” I nodded then and elbowed him gently.

“You heard the lady.”

“Yes ma’am.” I giggled then and She smiled. Ardyn hugged me gently and kissed my cheek then before whispering.

“How about you head back with her and start packing…? I need to talk to Ravus.” I nodded then and got his hand.

“You better come back or you’ll never see your other coat again except when I wear it.” I muttered. Then something amazing happened. He started laughing. Aranea jumped giving us a weird look but I just smiled and turned. He was smiling.

“My oh my… You’re so vicious skylar.”

“Oh like you aren’t? Trying to tickle me earlier?”

“What? I thought you liked that.” I sighed then and got on my tip toes to give him a kiss.

“Only from you. Behave. Don’t pick a fight. I’m not bailing you out.”

“Diplomatic immunity. Can’t send me to jail.”

“That still doesn’t mean she won’t try.” He shrugged then as I got down. I smiled then.

“Behave.”

“As you wish, My lady.” He bowed gently then making me laugh. We were hopeless. We couldn’t be serious even if we tried anymore. That was ok by me though. He needed to lighten up more.

Walking through Altissia with the Commodore was fun. People kept staring but she wasn’t Fazed. Her men stayed close by and just talked to each other. Finally I got her hand and she looked over.

“Yes?”

“How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Be badass. Even Ravus respects you to a point. Ardyn does or he wouldn’t trust you with me. So how did you do it?” She smiled a bit then.

“I was unapologetically me. The Empire is a rough place for a woman. Even for me at first it was hard. So I stopped trying to fit in. I showed them what I was capable of without their boundaries and earned their respect. Anytime they told me I couldn’t do something, I went and I did it. Didn’t matter how many times it took to get it right. I kept going at it until it was done. Had these two knuckleheads backing me up and with their help, we got the standing we have now.” I nodded then and she smiled.

“You’ve already gotten a good start on that… So just stay true to you hon. It’ll work out better in the end.”

“Oh yeah?” She nodded then smiling.

“You’ve got me on your side after all. I’ve never seen that man bow to anyone.” I laughed then almost slipping off a step. I caught myself though and smiled.

“Honey you should see what I can get him to do otherwise.”

I swear to all the gods, I have never seen two grown men go that red in my whole life. Biggs and Wedge were beyond scarlet and wouldn’t even come into the hotel room while Aranea helped me start packing for the trip to Gralea.

Ardyn came back after an hour. He had gotten dinner to go from Maagho’s. Aranea had gotten called back less than five minutes before so I was still packing. I barely heard him before his hand was around my waist pulling me close.

“Hm… Hey.”

“Hey…. You’ve almost finished huh?”

“Might as well.. I’m not easy to wake up after all.” He chuckled then before kissing my neck gently.

“It won’t take long…. I’ll be back with you as soon as I can.” I nodded then and sighed.

“I just don’t like having people I care about out of sight… but I trust you.” I got his hand then feeling our rings press together. It was so odd how comforting I found that.

“I know… I’ll be there though and then we can spend the rest of the ride together… We can see shiva together too from the windows.” I smiled then.

“Don’t you mean her corpse?”

“Sadly, yes. But she was threatening the empire.”

“More likely you.”

“Hey!” I laughed then as he let me go.

“Let’s not even get into that. We… We had history.” I stopped then and glanced over.

“Excuse me?”

“Well with her messenger at least.” I gave him this look then as I folded one of his shirt I loved to steal.

“Do I need to worry?”

“Gods no. She’s too busy helping the prince and the oracle…. Which the poor girl needs. Apparently she’s gotten sick which is why the ceremony is postponed. I’ll have to come back during that to oversee the operations but that will be it.” I nodded then.

“Alright… I’ll have to see if I can go on a hunt then. So I don’t worry myself sick…. It’s not going to be safe here after all.” I tucked the shirt into my suitcase and sighed.

“Are they…. Am I going to have to fake it over there?” I heard him stop before looking over. He was trying to untie his boots.

“Fake it? No. Gods no. I would hate it if you were anything else less than yourself. The people I work around will get used to it. You’re my future wife. You’re there to stay and they will get used to the real you or they can leave.” I laughed a bit then as he came over.

“You are the one I fell for. Nothing more. Nothing less. You are you and it’s perfect. Occasionally we both will have to put on a face for dinners and such… but I won’t restrict you. You can and I hope will, speak your mind to whoever.” I smiled then and hugged him tightly.

“Oh you mean like I do you?”

“Exactly like that. No “The pleasure is mine first secretary!” I gasped then letting him go. He had done an incredibly high pitched voice.

“I do not sound like that!”

“You did that night. It was cute, don’t get me wrong but by the gods, we’ve got to work on your skills.”

“Oh you mean like yours?” I cleared my throat then.

“An honor to be recognized by the masses!  Ardyn izunia, chancellor of the stupidest empire in the world, At your hummmmbbble service! How shall I polish your floors good king regis?” I went into a low bow before looking up at him. He was completely stunned.

“You. Did. not.”

“Bitch, yes I did.”

The next five minutes were filled with screams and squeals as I try to out run him. Apparently it was so loud and bad, right as he was about to pick me up and drag me to the bed for worse torture, Ravus almost kicked in our door! Ardyn hadn’t closed it completely. We both froze which was awkward. My shirt was riding up and showing off my stomach. He had his sword drawn and soon relaxed.

“Can you two please… Keep it down?”

“Sorry Ravus.”

“Sorry commander.” I waved a bit as I said that and he waved back.

“I thought you were being attacked.”

“No. I just made fun of Ardyn and he’s torturing me in return!!” I wiggled then trying to get free but it wasn’t happening. Ardyn smiled then.

“I did not realize the door was ajar. Thank you for your concern commander but we’re alright.”

“Right…. Just keep it down.” I nodded then as he walked out. He closed the door and we waited till we couldn’t hear him anymore before dying laughing. Ardyn honestly dropped me while he was laughing and I had to lean on the couch.

“Dear gods, I do believe the boy is worried about you.”

“Oh I know he is. He tired warning me about the whole demon thing at the dance. Apparently luna told him.”

“Not a shock there.” He was still laughing. He finally sat down and I just smiled.

“You’re insane.” He shrugged then. I just sighed then and soon went to get dinner set up before finishing packing. Tomorrow was going to be a stressful day for sure. We needed these laughs while we could still get them.

I woke up Alone. I had set an alarm on my phone for nine so I could finish packing and get ready. I just didn’t expect him to be gone yet. In his place was a note though that I grabbed as I rubbed sleep out of my eyes.

Dear Skylar, Sadly I had to leave you earlier than expected. Complications came up and I was needed sooner. Hopefully this means I can leave sooner but no matter what, I shall meet you in Tenebrae. The commodore is under orders not to let the train leave till I am on board. Hopefully it won’t go that far but just in case, that is there. Dress how you want. No matter what, I will see you accepted into my new home.

Dearest love,

Ardyn.

I smiled a bit reading that and sighed. At least I knew he was coming back. I got up then and had a small breakfast as I tired to pick out something to wear. I wanted to surprise him when he did see me. I found one of my newer outfits I had gotten here in Altissia and after a quick shower, got into it. I was just brushing out my hair to put it up when someone knocked. I had the hair tie in my mouth and most of my hair in my hand so I just walked over and opened the door. Aranea was there and jumped as I got the tie around my free wrist.

“Oh. He told me you might still be asleep. It’s only nine thirty.”

“I had an alarm set. I wanted to see him before I go… That didn’t work so I got ready.” I moved out of the way then.

“Come on in.” She nodded and slipped in closing the door. I headed back to the bathroom and she followed.

“Nice hotel…”

“You’re telling me. We get awesome room service here.” She laughed then and sat on the bed watching.

“What’s with the outfit?” I shrugged then as I pulled the tail through and gave it a look over. I had even put on lipstick and eyeshadows just so I could look even cuter for him.

“I wanted to surprise him… He likes my legs I think.”

“Anyone would… Those things are pure muscle.” I laughed then and turned.

“Like yours aren’t?”

“Oh they are. But I have no one to impress.” She got up then and smiled. I was pulling on the new coat I had gotten here. My older one needed to be repaired again. I checked myself out in the full length mirror then. A low cut tank showed off my coeurl tooth necklace I had found, while purple shorts emphasized what curves I had with knee highs showing off my lower legs with short boots on my feet. It was a very attractive outfit for sure and the white lace underwear set under it all. I made sure you couldn’t see it before smiling and giving the ring on my finger a small twist to make sure it was still there.

“I would have never hunted in this.” Aranea laughed then as I turned grabbing my satchel and putting it on. She had my suitcase and smiled.

“Not demons at least. Chancellors… I can see it.” I laughed then and nodded.

“They’re a lot harder to deal with.”

“Amen there. He’s been a pain for a while. Nice to see someone’s there to chill him out.” I smiled then giving the ring a glance.

“Yeah. Yeah I’m here to stay hon. So no worries.” I followed behind her then before locking up the room as we headed down to check out. Then it was on towards the airship near the altar that would get us to the train station.

Archive Project - March 28, 2014 - Noah Review

Go see it! Really! You should just go see it! More than just being a good movie, Noah is at the center of the cultural conversation right now and being able to talk about this movie appropriately is important! Its not really a religious film in the traditional sense so if you aren't interested in that don't worry! If you are religious i'd still suggest you go so you can be able to talk about it! Ok? ok! I'm going to break into mild spoilers for the movie, but it is the story of Noah's Arc so I don't imagine much of what i'm telling you will be too surprising. ————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————— Noah, 2014. Darren Aronofski 139 Minutes Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qmj5mhDwJQ ————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————— As I said, this movie is a huge part of the cultural conversation right now, and a controversial one at that. Taking the famed Biblical story of Noah and The Ark, stripping out it's spirituality and using it to tell a metaphorical story about family, survival and climate change.   How is the movie? Well.. Its fantastic!! A genuinely great movie with a well realized world, beautiful special effects, great acting and an emotional, gripping story that manages to pull off moments of horror and sadness. Everybody knows the story of Noah and the Arc, hopefully. In the Bible, God looks down on his creation and sees the wickedness of man, and only one man amongst them who hasn't turned to wickedness. This man is named Noah. God tells this man that he plans to send a flood to the earth and destroy all of his creation so that he may start anew, and for Noah to build an enormous ship so that he might survive the flood. The elderly Noah does so and brings aboard his family and two of all the creatures of the earth so they may survive the flood. God sends a storm and after 40 days and 40 nights, all of creation but that upon Noah's arc had been destroyed. The arc eventually lands on dry land where it is greeted by a rainbow, signifying that God will never again destroy his creation in a flood. The movie Noah takes a very liberal approach to the story, stretching out the rather straightforward story with elements fantasy fiction. Methuselah at one point wields a flaming sword. Giant rock monsters called Watchers are depicted as fallen angels who tried to tried to assist humanity after the exile of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden. God is only ever referenced as "The Creator". The whole production cuts the biblical meaning of the story in favor of using the movie as a cautionary tale relevant to modern day politics. Making a Noah movie like this is fairly controversial as it is considered offensive to fundamentalist Christians who take the stories in the Bible very seriously. Speaking as somebody who is fairly religious but has spent a great deal of his life outside of the church, and as someone who loves fantasy epics, I can pretty much understand where everybody is coming from with their issues in this movie. It walks the line for two hours of being epic fan fiction and horribly offensive blasphemy. Though considering the director i'm afraid it teeters over to the side of the latter for the most part. The symbolism is almost laughably simplistic. The beginning of the movie references the story of Cain and Abel (and apparently Seth!). The two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Seth both go on to create tribes of their own. Cain's tribe allied with the Watchers to produce an industrial society while Seth's descendants chose to be one with the land and essentially chose to become hippies. By the time the movie starts, Noah and his children are the last members of that tribe. Considering the traits of both these tribes, its blatantly obvious what the movie is trying to tell me: The descendants of Cain are all are carnivorous, violent, selfish people who kill, destroy nature and self people into slavery. The descendants of Seth all live one with the land, never kill animals or even pick flowers and only take what they need to survive. …. The on-the-nose symbolism is only lacking the righteous indignation to join Avatar, White House Down and Elysium in my list of Most Blunt Movies of All Time! I have to give credit where it is due though! As I said this movie is really good! The action scenes, especially a great action beat towards the end of the second act, are among the best i've seen all year! They harken back to great fantasy epics like The Lord of the Rings, with grand armies and giant monsters going head to head. Its truly a marvel of filmmaking! However it is after that act two action beat that the movie starts going off the rails a bit, introducing a much more morally grey plot line in which Noah is conflicted by his love for life, the action of mass murder he just committed and his confusion whether or not humanity deserves to survive the destruction it has conflicted upon the world. Some of the character actions during this portion of the movie might very well wreck the movie for you, as it almost did for me. The movie really does peak at the end of the second act. Though the images and story from this point in the movie is where the writing quality and imagery gets to it's most iconic, I didn't like it as much. The Controversy This movie is stirring a lot of attention and things aren't looking pretty… Christians are preemptively judging the movie as blasphemous before giving it a chance. Intellectual atheists like TV host, Bill Maher lashed out against the movie and called Christians dumb for believing in God, (http://www.christianpost.com/news/bill-maher-curses-god-bible-noah-story-and-stupid-americans-who-believe-calls-god-psychotic-mass-murderer-116276/cpf). Then Paramount tried to censor the movie during a bunch of early screenings for members of the Christian community which ticked off Aronofsky and anti-censorship purists. The movie has been banned in the middle east for it's depictions. Plus one of the digressions in the movie involves a skit of The Big Bang and Darwinian Evolution being played while a voiceover of Noah tells the story of the creation of man from Genesis. It's really a mess. The sad thing is most of the people who are fighting over this movie haven't seen it, aren't giving it a chance and are denying the possibility that it can be a good, influential movie despite either portraying Biblical material, and not doing it accurately. Hollywood used to do this all the time! Back in the day, Hollywood did TONS of liberal religious movies because it was a very simple way to get around censorship standards and allowed them to show all the gore, nudity and sexuality Hollywood wanted too, as long as they could claim it was "Biblical". In recent years though looser standards have allowed Hollywood to do those things anyway so the remaining Christian entertainment industry has transformed into it's logical extremes: super safe family entertainment like Veggie Tales, and bad crap crazy movies like Passion of the Christ. I'm not defending that this portrayal is at all "good", but honestly, give it a chance! Without the Biblical connection, this movie is a fantastic movie! Being at the center of the cultural conversation right now justifies seeing it just to know what everybody is complaining about! It aint a Christian movie, buts a dang good film! Go see it! Form your own opinion and join into the conversation! Noah receives a big recommendation from me! ————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————— Thank you for reading! Live long and prosper!

Ascension - What is it Really About? - Yázhi Swaruu - Galactic Extraterrestrial Communication

Author: Cosmic Agency, Gosia

Gosia: Ok, I have 2 questions Yazhi. They are basic and may be repetitive but I want you to answer them for people because I think not everyone understands it well yet. First: How does the subject of ASCENSION, which the very ET races speak of, fit into everything that we are talking about recently? (I know that in some talk you said that this comes from higher levels, from channeling... that would fit. It does not come from the Federation). But something else to add to this? Yazhi: I do not agree with ASCENSION as described by hundreds of others. I see it as New Age, religious, part of the control of the Cabal to impose its Government and World Religion. Controlled opposition too, where people spend their time waiting for a "savior" be it Jesus again, or Ashtar, whoever. Characters of their creation for the same purpose, crowd control. The whole ASCENSION thing immediately puts people in a state of eternal anticipation for something to happen to them. For the world, the entire planet, irretrievably to ascend to 5D where there are no problems, where everything is love and singing holding hands making a circle around a tree. Concepts that in themselves already carry strong symbolism. Hypothetical 5D world and New Age that cannot exist because a density or universe without conflict is not possible while living in duality. One solution to this is to keep people in an eternal state of pure ignorance and complete dependence on the system that will control their thinking. But this has already happened and is embodied in the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Where their "nakedness" really represents not having any knowledge. That is, without a way to fend for themselves. Completely dependent on a god who claims to be pure love, when he proves himself to be a complete narcissistic tyrant. But Adam and Eve do not see it because of their very "nakedness" of thought of consciousness, pure ignorance. Being that the only rule imposed on them by that god is a rule that as a whole is not just one but determines and combines all the other rules into one. Not consuming the forbidden fruit, representing the knowledge, that is, the realization that they are being manipulated, that they are being exploited and that everything they have been told is a lie. But mainly the knowledge that they are like that god, others being just like him, with the same capabilities, even clearly superior to him. Knowledge represented in the acquisition of shame and the need to hide because they know they are "naked" (without knowing how to defend themselves). They wish to return humans to that state. Therefore the "awakened" must die. They must be erased. That is why the moment a civilization reaches a point of intellectual and consciousness development, it collapses. Because even seen from high planes, it ceases to be the difficult and deterministic world that souls wish to experience. Even if they deny it once inside. Closed and trapped in vicious circles and their own creations such as sin and Karma. So, and fully aware that I am contradicting the "great ones" like Dolores Cannon here. I don't see any ASCENSION as they describe it. Nor do I see that it is even possible from any Cosmic angle. There would only be individual ASCENSION as a process of advancement in the capacities of perception of the individual, of their mental ascension and consciousness-perception. And only from that point, from there, and by agreements between a number of people with the same vision and level of consciousness, another world can be generated, another better society with a 5D mentality, this time referring to the real 5D - where you can live at peace with a scientific, moral, ethical and conscious advancement in general, but still with problems created by a world still strongly based on duality. As would be Taygeta for example. But what they sell you by ASCENSION in all the New Age places, articles and channels is a mental impossibility. This is only fulfilled in very high densities but with characteristics that do not go hand in hand with their descriptions of their "5D" New Age and Utopian. For example, still forming a family, with a man and a woman. Having a job, money economy and all that is only a reflection of the current 3D. All that from high densities stops working. The concept of ASCENSION as they provide people with, also puts them in a very dangerous mindset, and very convenient for the Cabal. It is putting them into a waiting mentality. That they should not do anything. Not be involved. "Because it is inevitable" <--- <--- (quoting Dolores Cannon here). ¨Doing nothing¨ mentality amounts to falling prey to Cabal manipulations that make them docile and easy to manage. Obedient. Without control over what they want as individuals or as a society. That is why I insist that it is an individual path, individual ASCENSION; because it will begin from there - people with the same interests and points of view will form agreements that will be the basis for a new, more positive society. From another individual point of view, the ASCENSION from 3D without an alliance between many people with the same thought or frequency, necessarily implies that one will first live in an interior alternate world, to later be completely incompatible with living or simply existing there. Being that the ASCENSION for these isolated people will only be reflected after death where they will be compatible with incarnating in other worlds more in accordance with their level of understanding and frequency and consciousness. While this sounds very bleak from Earth, from the position of being incarnated there, from the more expanded position, it is just a natural process and as it always has been. To 'manifest' a better world all united there. Yes, they can, but it depends on them. Most are just asleep, in a zombie-obedient state. And those who shout that they do not want the negative world to materialize, even though they are many, are scattered and do not represent the will of the "people of Earth." Not the mass, they are not the highest percentage. It is said that it has already gone to 51%, I do not know what they are basing themselves on here with that. If that were the case, the things you see today would simply not be happening. Gosia: Thank you for this detailed answer! A question. You said: And only from that point, from there, and by agreements between a number of people with the same vision and level of consciousness, another world can be generated, another better society with a 5D mentality, this time referring to the real 5D. But on Earth? Yazhi: Yes, in the thin hopes that remain. But the masses don't want that. Gosia: I understand. The next question is also simple perhaps and you have already answered it briefly but I would like to answer it in more detail if possible because it is another super common thing that people do not understand and they base themselves on that lack of understanding when they reject some of our information. The question is: You have said that thoughts create. So, giving us the vision of the horrible future as one of the possibilities doesn't cement that timeline more? How would you answer so that people can understand your point of view? Yazhi: Going into denial is a common response. Putting your head in the sand does not remove the problem that haunts you. The wolf is still there, and it only makes you more vulnerable to him. Being able to understand what you don't want helps to cement what you do want. You cannot advance blindly. This is what I was referring to above with the New Age and the ASCENSION as something that will happen to them without having to do anything. That only results in useless attitudes, people without any motivation to do the work themselves, because nobody will do it for them. It is true that you will receive more of that that you focus on. And it creates vicious circles. But you need to know what problem you are facing in order to do something about it. You cannot advance only by looking at the positive. Because the regressive ones will take advantage of that. That in themselves they are only a reflection of the ignorance of the population and of their mental state. The very nature of true shadow work is to face adversity head-on. Facing all the most horrible aspects of ourselves head on. Only from that position will they be able to see and solve the problems that haunt them. I do not mean to see or accept that we have defects. That is very superficial. I mean getting down to the worst things we can imagine about ourselves. Face the most horrible and low aspects that we encounter. Mentally get into not only the level of the mud that encloses our own mind, our unconscious, but even lower, into the very ugliness of our deepest unwanted characteristics. To face directly everything that terrifies us, what hurts us as qualities. Letting go and accepting that we are that too. That within ourselves we have terrible, regressive and most despicable qualities. With that, something that very few people are capable of doing, we acquire a very deep and complete self-knowledge, almost without any denial of what we are as people. And with this, gaining the control that comes from the simple fact of being aware of all this, we will naturally and inexorably create and realize that we are also the exact opposite of that terrible something that we have inside. There is no virtue in repressing anything, so that it is then reflected on the outside when you least expect it. ¨What you repress will come out later and you will call it destiny¨ - Carl Gustav Jung. It is the ability to accept that we do carry a monster inside that defines us as virtuous, choosing to be the opposite, because the existence of the monster defines and creates its opposite: the celestial being of high densities. Being that integrates everything. Including the regressive. It defines it. And overcomes it. Being the monster, you choose to be the Celestial being, that is the definition of virtue. Because evil has the characteristic of being self-destructive. It defines it. I speak of absolute evil, not of the one relative to each point of view. So, since there is malevolence, there is its opposite, integration. And with it the total dissolution of evil. By contrast evil remains only as an example of how not to be. This is how evil is understood. And therefore, it is understood how to defeat it. As integration, not as suppression or rejection. They will have to face the problems and do something about them. Do not wait for your ASCENSION because it will not happen. They must work on it. Face your personal and collective monsters and there you will have your ASCENSION.

similarities/parallels between bates motel and lost because everything happens for a reason

and i’m a huge lost nerd with too much free time and too much feelings for both tv shows. this post is a mess and it’s just a list of things. there are topics but the single points don’t appear in any order. I WILL SPOILER YOU BOTH SHOWS COMPLETELY, like, the fucking end. 

i do this for fun. carlton cuse both worked on lost and bates motel as a show runner and that’s my only connection. if i see too much, well, that’s me then but it’s FUN.

even if you don’t care about lost or haven’t seen it, it might be interesting...? you could at least read THE RULES until the lost part begins if you want to avoid spoilers.

index: 1. The Rules (BM & Lost part) 2. Dylan Thomas and Romero 3. Mental Institution/Hurley’s and Norman’s Question 4. books and poems 5. alpert vs. romero 6. shapeshifter 7. moving on 8. mother/jacob/men in black vs. norma/norman/mother

1. The Rules + games between certain people

in both shows an important reaccuring theme is the set of rules. rules between people or in certain places, in science... some people play games with each other and have to follow the rules. i start with bates motel.

BATES MOTEL

a) in bates motel you have norman and norma playing their relationship as a game (according to norman in 2x08), to love each other unconditionally. that is the goal. then there were rules which norma changed because the loss of trust between them.

example, 2x08:

norma: Nothing has changed.

norman: Everything has changed. You changed the rules.

norma: What rules? What are you talking about? 

norman: I don't trust you anymore, and that changes everything. Okay, it's all up for grabs now. You no longer know who I am either, because we're different.

norma: What? Stop it. Stop. Stop it, Norman.

norman: It was all just a game. The game was that we were devoted to each other, and no one could ever come between us, that we loved each other more than anyone could ever love another person.

norma: But we do love each other.

norman: Do we? Do we really, mother?

a powerful example of how the rules have changed or maybe what has been part of the rules all along is in 2x10:

norman: How can you ask me to live with this? 

norma: Because I will die if you leave. I will, I'll die, Norman. We're like the same person. If you kill yourself, I'll be there one step after. We have to be together. We're supposed to be together. No matter what, I will be with you every step. I will be right by your side, and we will face this together. Please.

norman: All right, mother. You win.

norma brought up the rule ‘if you die, i will die’ and norman says ‘you win’ when he decides not to kill himself. for her. off-topic: these two situations have been such a turning point for the show, everything changed after that, especially after norman says norma had won. like...another game starts and both of them don’t know the rules yet; if some of the old rules even apply anymore. i loooove that.

b) norman and mother have a similar game ongoing but it’s more vague and the first rule and also goal that stands out is mother’s need to protect norman. norman starts with not wanting to know the truth, with oblivion to what is happening/has happened, then he changes somehow the rules because he wants to know the truth, because their relationship doesn’t work that way anymore.

5x06:

mother: Like Adam wanting all the knowledge and eating the apple in the Garden of Eden, you get the truth, but you also see the pain. We are partners now, Norman. You have no choice. We are on even footing.

their ‘game’ ends when norman knows everything and mother doesn’t need to protect him anymore. somehow they both win in a....tragic way...lol not lol.

5x10:

mother: You know everything now, and there's nothing for me to protect you from.

c) everyone who is involved with the drug business, so basically the whole town. it only works (somehow) because people follow the rules they made up, especially in the beginning it’s ‘an eye for an eye’.

one example in 1x02:

shelby: The people in this town, they deal with things in a different way, but it gets dealt with.

norma: And what about the guy who was burned?

shelby: It'll be dealt with. An eye for an eye. It'll get handled.

you also have sheriff alex romero whose job seems to be to make up cover stories for situations like this.

d) chick mentions the rules in 3x02 when he meets dylan and caleb after they shot his dog.

chick: You know, there's rules, right? We respect the rules. That's how we respect each other, right? If we all understand the rules, then we can coexist. Isn't that right, Dylan? Yeah.

dylan: Yeah, I guess.

e) other rules. of course there are other rules. rules in the police station, ‘standard procedures’. rules in the mental institution, you can see the rules printed there on the wall. 

LOST

a) i will keep it short, lol. ben linus and charles widmore are rivals. charles wants to find the island (again) and ben wants to stop him. when one of widmore’s people threaten to kill ben’s daugther, ben believes that she won’t be harmed because of the ruuuuuules they seem to follow up to this point (4x09)

ben: So if you want to kill her, go ahead and do it—  [long story short, she gets killed] He changed the rules.

i love ben linus and i love norman bates and they say the same, gosh. later in that episode ben finds widmore and confronts him.

widmore: Have you come here to kill me, Benjamin?

ben: We both know I can't do that.

well that is one big rule. he stands right in front of the guy that killed is daugther and is bound by rules. i won’t go into lost-lore to give explanations, lol, that’s not the point right now.

ben: I'm here, Charles, to tell you that I'm going to kill your daughter. Penelope, is it? And once she's gone... once she's dead... then you'll understand how I feel. And you'll wish you hadn't changed the rules.

that sounds a lot like an eye for an eye to me, right? 

widmore: That island's mine, Benjamin. It always was. It will be again.

ben: But you'll never find it.

widmore: Then I suppose the hunt is on for both of us.

and that’s another example of a game that two characters play.

b) *heavy sigh* okay, another set of rules is brought to you by...MOTHER. yes, you’re still reading the lost part and it’s part of the biggest lost/bates motel parallel EVER, i tell you, i almost CHOKED ON MY EXISTENCE when i noticed it, but more later. first of all:

mother set up rules between her two surrogate children in 6x15:

mother: If they [other people] found you, they would hurt you.

jacob: Why would they hurt us?

mother: Because they're people, Jacob, and that's what people do.

boy in black: But we're people. Does that mean that we can hurt each other?

mother: I've made it so you can never hurt each other.

another imporant things mother says is that they can’t ever leave this island and that both of them ‘don’t have to worry’ about death, meaning they won’t be able to die (that easily, cough). rules.

the boy in black aka the man in black aka the smoke monster’s goal is to leave the island, desperately trying to find a loophole.

which brings us to 

c) the game between jacob and the man in black when they were LITTLE. they played an ancient senet game (imagine old chess or blackgammon). jacob moves a stone on the board, also 6x15.

boy in black: You can’t do that, Jacob.

jacob: Why not?

boy in black: Because it's against the rules.

jacob: You made the rules.

boy in black: I found it. One day, you can make up your own game and everyone else will have to follow your rules.

which brings us to

d) the game between jacob and the man in black when they were OLDER. like i said the man in black wants to find a loophole to leave this island. also, he really wants to kill jacob.

man in black: Do you have any idea how badly I wanna kill you? 

jacob: Yes. 

man in black: One of these days, sooner or later... I'm going to find a loophole, my friend. 

jacob: Well, when you do, I'll be right here.

there’s more about the three of them in the very end because it’s...a long one. and a messy one.

2. DYLAN THOMAS and Romero

i admit it, it’s...probably made up out of thin air but i love it, okay, it’s my little precious secret lost reference in the end of bates motel and i’m still laughing about it.

5x10. you remember the woman with her two children checking in after norman nearly died in the woods? one son was called dylan. NO, wait for it and hear me out.

norman: His name's Dylan? I have a brother named Dylan.

woman: Yeah? We named him after Dylan Thomas. The poet.

dylan thomas. so i googled that guy. he wrote a poem called ‘and death shall have no dominion’. WAIT FOR IT. 

I will quote wikipedia on you.

In the Season 6 soundtrack of Lost the piece which shares its name with the poem is played while detailing Richard Alpert's life.

Richard Alpert is played by Nestor Carbonell.

HAHA. THIS IS DELIGHTFUL.

Anyway.

3. Mental Institution / Hurley’s and Norman’s question

in both tv shows a character get’s treated in a mental institution and said character sees people that don’t exist but heavily influence their behavior. you got hurley in lost and of course norman in bates motel

but the funnier parallel is in a question both characters ask:

hurley: Did either of you see a guy run through here... in a bathrobe... with a coconut?

norman: When when she was in here, was she with anyone? Or maybe a man, very dark hair, eyes, 6', maybe with the look of an escaped convict?

in both situations, the questioned person somehow doubts if the other one is doing quite well. ok i think it’s funny...

4. book and poem references

in lost and bates motel you will find a lot references to mentioned books and poems, i already wrote three posts about examples in bates motel. (great expectations, fire and ice, the titanic one.)

in lost you have books like mice of men, carrie....and so much more, seriously, it’s lost.

5. Romero in Lost vs. Alpert in Bates Motel, ah shit, the other way 

as you might now, nestor carbonell plays sheriff romero on bates motel and richard alpert on lost and yes, there are similarities.

i want to mention a certain scene in 2x10 bates motel.

romero: I think you're smart enough to understand how things work around here. What you can do, what you can't do. And right now right now, there's a vacuum. Somebody's gonna fill that vacuum. That's as inevitable as the sun rising in the morning.

dylan: I'm not your guy. I didn't sign on for any of this.

romero: Well, somebody's going to, and I want to be sure that person who fills that vacuum, Dylan, understands the rules, because the rules are what make it possible for all of us to live here together in a peaceful manner.

So once again you have the rules here. but also romero who wants to recruit dylan to fill an important role. romero can’t take this job for himself so he needs to find someone who can do the job, someone who knows the rules and keep the balance. 

in lost richard alpert is an advisor to the leader of the island. he can’t ever be leader himself but he helps choosing one. he’s the person between jacob, basically his boss, and the people who come to the island. the scene of romero and dylan in bates motel very much reminded me of his role in lost. and romero is always in the middle between the drug business and the law/the town.

6. shapeshifter

the man in black appears in the shape of different people for the crashed people on the island, to manipulate them. i REALLY need a fanfic where norman lands on the lost island and sees the smoke monster as his mother. that’s just...i have so many feels about that.

7. Moving On

Oh, that’s a nice one, too. in the end of lost, it’s all about moving on. the losties meet in this flash sideways world, get together because they shared such an important part of their lives together, and together they move on. 

that’s pretty much what norman does in the end. when he sees himself in the woods, running towards norma. that’s his moving on. like the losties, norman and norma were always meant to be together and now, joined in the after life, they can move on together.

8. Jacob, the Man in Black, Mother vs. Norman, Mother and Norman

that’s my last one and it’s a tricky one and i won’t be able to give a proper conclusion because you can see it in a lot of different but very interesting ways. it’s long and messy and basically just a mind game so if you’re not into lost and that topic....no shame if you skip it.

6x15 lost plot:

a lonely island. claudia, pregnant, arrives on the island. she gives birth to jacob and another son, we call him the boy in black/man in black. a woman called simply mother (for realz) kills claudia and raises the boys. jacob is blonde, more innocent, does what mother says, wants to be good, in some way. the boy in black is dark haired, the opposite, asks questions, wants more autonomy. one day he learns that mother killed their real mother claudia and wants to join other people on the island. mother doesn’t like that because other people are BAD and forbids it but he goes anyway. he desperately wants to leave the island. meanwhile jacob and mother live their life. jacob sometimes chats and plays board games with the man in black. then mother learns that the man in black almost has found a way to leave the island so she kills every other person he was living with (my guess she’s a smoke monster btw). the man in black then kills mother. jacob is angry at him, throws him into a certain cave that turn people into something “worse than dead”. the man in black becomes a smoke monster, now is REALLY unable to leave the island. the dead body though still exists and jacob puts the man in black’s body next to mother’s body in a cave.

jacob and the man in black (he can take his old form) then live in a game-like world. the man in black tries to find a loophole to escape. meanwhile jacob brings people to the island to prove that they’re not mean. the man in black says everyone’s mean. lol  i put it very simple. 

let’s just start with one option.

jacob - norman

the man in black - mother

mother - norma

if you’re really into lost, bates motel and that topic, you can try to start playing with the idea. switch between characters. who could be who. 

or:

jacob - norman and mother - mother. then mother’s (lost) sentence ‘now you and i are the same’ would be a great reference to 5x06 bates motel right before norman kills sam. or you can say man in black - norman and mother - norma. so the man in black runs away because mother lied to him. and then he kills her.

or:

claudia is norma, mother is mother and both jacob and the man in black are parts of norman.

i know, i know, it’s messy, like i said. but i love to think about it.

-----------

ANYWAY. that’s it, i am done!

i can’t believe i wrote this post, lol.

if you have any suggestions or comments, let me know.

"The only way you can get it (prayer) wrong, is to try and get it right."

-Tyler Staton⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

So so apt to have heard this sermon at this point in my life, "Why am I praying this?", "Is there a hidden motive behind my many prayers?" - these are thoughts I've been having about my prayers, do I do this Christian thing with a motive that's not God?

But I feel God's been telling me this for the longest time, "I just want to be with you." - and its this same vision that I've had for idk who, maybe me - it's a vision of the Garden of Eden, it's just God and someone walking together, and its the most blissful thing ever. God just wants to be with us no matter what - I mean that's the whole point of heaven right.

But going back, all we have to do is to pray as we can, it's to come to God with everything and anything we have, it's talking to Him like we would to anyone else, complain if that's what is on your heart, cause that's all God desires - after all, David's many "non-textbook" prayers were included in Psalms, I'm sure God is ok with that coming from us too. I mean, the more we seek God the more we find Him, the more we worship Him the more we become like Him, the more we pray to Him, the more we understand about Him - so as we are, let's boldly approach the throne, and just talk.

"The Lord is near. Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God."

PHILIPPIANS 4:5‭b-6