#it’s called the lockjaw trap and although it doesn’t have ad much symbolism as this one it’s still got a quite a bit behind it so ya

[femmemortes]

Traps I came up with for my SAW AU of my WIP but not a WIP because it’s more of just a thing I write, part 1.

Halo of Death / Halo Trap

So, I’m actually pretty proud of this trap because I felt so clever coming up with this and because I’m a sucker for traps that are connected to the person/are symbolic.

This was the first trap I wrote for the AU and the victim is none other than my beloved oc, Maxine.

The trap itself is a steel ring affixed around the victim’s head, connected at a collar around the neck. Inside of the steel ring is a series of thin metal wiring on motors that are attached to a series of hooks that are placed on select points of the victim’s face. The idea is, once the time runs out, the hooks will retract rapidly and flay the person’s face.

(Maybe an amount of suspended disbelief is required here, I’m not too sure, but we roll.)

In order for the victim to escape they must use two belt sanders that have been placed either side of them to sand off their skin and flesh to uncover the two keys that have been embedded into their arms. Both are used to unlock the trap.

I would go more in-depth for the lore here but this isn’t an OC lore post so… As for the symbolism behind the trap, in short, Maxine experienced a great deal of damage and religious trauma at the hands of the Catholic Church as she was growing up, especially between the ages of 15-18. She is 21 in the AU. This, among other factors, lead her to be destructive to not only herself but also other people and this continues even after she rebukes and leaves the church and no longer practices any faith whatsoever. This is actually an integral part of her character in the “normal universe” as with other oc’s arcs, I just translated them over into the AU.

The main symbolic aspect of this trap is the ring that encircles Maxine’s head while in the trap. I got this idea from the way that saints, angels and other holy figures are depicted in art found in stained glass windows and paintings. Rather the halo being a horizontally placed ring, it is instead a circle behind the head.

Here’s some examples of what I’m talking about along with a very rushed and basic drawing of the general shape of the trap with Maxine in it. The wires and hooks could also be representative of the lines you sometimes see running from the circumference of the halo to it’s centre? But honestly that’s more of a loose connection.

The symbolism just doesn’t end here though. Maxine is pretty self indulgent when it comes to appearance. This mostly comes from the people she socialises with but also because I think there’s something to be said for losing so much all you have left is your flesh and skin, so she puts so much effort into it because in a way it’s all she has left. So then having the threat of that being ripped away from her, literally and figuratively, is pretty symbolic. That and the way she’s also torn others apart, so in order to escape she must do the same to herself concerning the belt sanders.

The belt sanders also play a role, she has to kneel and put her arms in these box like cages where the belt sanders are fixed inside. Kneeling while holding your arms up/open is a pretty common practice in worship. That and also I feel like I could make a comment about this playing into the fact John Kramer does very much in-fact have a god complex? Either way, this entire trap was meant to be a mockery of her and her experiences and a more fucked up twist on, “turn to God, it’ll save your life.”