#too many lincoln-parallels for that

[its-short-for-jackalope]

TRANSMISSION 13!

oh man I am feeling very AAAAAAAAAAAAA so imma just pop my rambles under the cut in case anybody hasn't watched yet, lol

1. okay right off the bat I was surprised to see that M.A.I.A.'s room looks so much brighter than it has in the past??? damn, she REALLY needed a new light bulb, huh?

Still got a crack in that window, though... 😑 C'mon Matt, it'll let all the pests in. no fog allowed!!!

images are from transmissions for TGMH, TGOA, & today

granted, the room from the TGMH era has a space view so it makes sense that it's so dark, but I think it's interesting that there's definitely a difference between the room in TGOA and the room today, despite them both having a nice daytime view out the window.

does this ✨️mean✨️ anything? maybe not but I think it's interesting, especially considering how bright this episode's cover is. perhaps we could extrapolate something about coming out of the shadows and into the light of discovery, having hope for brighter days, but idk. I'm not gonna think too hard about it right now, lol.

also I just love Jackie's art and want to live in this room. M.A.I.A., do you want a roommate??? I can bring a dehumidifier to keep a certain foggy bastard from messing with you—

2. okay so we have more confirmation that Rose is gonna be two weeks older than Samuel, which is. agh. 🥲😭 /pos

Matt also tells us the episode kind of takes place immediately after TGOA—

"Some of us traveled through time. ...Again."

—so I think we're definitely gonna have some interesting time-hopping. dunno how that's gonna play out, if we'll have flashbacks or whole parallel timelines happening, but I am very excited to see! ...er, listen!

3. the arrrrrrrrt oh my god it's so pretty! I love Jackie's scenery and I am SO EXCITED to see what else she's done when we get more transmissions and/or the episode broadcasts!

the cow is so cute, I love the cow. i hope somebody pets the cow.

I wish I could pet the cow.

also hey, are those buildings for/from Travelers or is there anybody else living on Lincoln Island???

4. it's neat that the episode is building off of the setting of The Mysterious Island without following the events. The calm before the storm Inspiration comes in many forms!

I actually don't know the original story at all but these places sound interesting! A house made of granite, a towering volcano, a grotto with an incredible secret.... sounds like great staging for our next episode. and some good Jackie art.

I wonder if the grotto's secret has anything to do with a certain Searcher captain whose whereabouts are currently unknown. 👀

5. gotta wait till the next transmission to hear about Ahlaam and Dakkar and any other characters—hopefully we'll get to hear a little something about my beloved Captain Addison Arvad???? 👉🏻👈🏻

[fictionadventurer]

"I'm continually surprised at just how literary the events of the Civil War can be--people who are foils to each other, events and people that draw out themes, happenings that have poetic or dramatic irony or justice. It makes one wonder--a couple of millennia down the road, could the Civil War and its characters be the focus of an archetypal epic drama the way that Caesar's was? It's a compelling--if odd--thought."

I know right?!

For example, Lee, McClellen and Grant all foil each other in different ways!

McClellen and Lee were both respectable men with good standing in the army. Both were offered the job of replacing Winfield Scott. Both were popular with their men. However, while McClellen was timid and slow, Lee was brash and risktaking! Lee won against the odds, while McClellen avoided victory when it was handed to him! McClellen hated Lincoln (who did not care for him), Lee and Davis got along well from what I've heard.

McClellen and Grant were both the most prominent generals in the Union Army. Both went up against Robert E. Lee. I believe both were popular with the men. However, McClellen started on the top while Grant started as a washout working in his father's shoe shop. McClellen was so terrified to lose he was too afraid to win, while Grant had been defeated enough in life that he could bear to take risks. McClellen was consumed with phantoms of what his enemies were doing, Grant did not care (sometimes to his detriment). McClellen was the man who should have won the war but instead was removed and failed to run for president. McClellen ran when Lee refused to lose at the Seven Days (even if he did not win a single engagement). Grant got his tail kicked the first day of Shiloh and responded by kicking the South back the second day. Grant won the war and became president. McClellen boasted constantly, Grant did not.

Lee and Grant were both leaders of their respective armies. Both have gone down in history as the main and in many ways best generals of their armies. Both were able to take risks and win great victories. However, while Lee lost his gamble in Gettysburg, Grant was winning his at Vicksburg. Lee's journeys north ended in failure, Grant's journey South to Richmond ended in triumph. Lee was beloved throughout the South while many in the North called Grant a butcher. Lee was an aristocrat, who practically represented the South's view of American greatness. Grant was an ordinary man who rose through his triumphs and stone cold determination, representing the North's view of American greatness. Lee may have occasionally criticized slavery but had few qualms participating and fighting for it. Grant was to my knowledge no dedicated abolitionist prior to the war, but freed the one slave he was ever given despite his family needing money. Lee lost, a man who (ultimately) fought valiantly for the worthless cause of slavery. Grant won, a man who led a noble cause to triumph, freeing the slaves. Until recent years, Lee was put on a pedestal until recent years, while Grant was slandered.

Just...so many parallels! You'd think this war was one of the times God decided to peel back the curtain slightly make his poetry all the more visible!

The parallels really are amazing. Lincoln and Grant--both humble guys from Illinois who faced failure after failure but wound up victorious--stand in sharp contrast to the successful, prideful people like McClellan, Lee, and Davis. The self-made men of the West who triumphed through their own labor defeating those who wanted to profit off the enslaved labor of others. It could almost be a fable.

There are so many stories that seem to make the hand of God visible. The two that most often come to mind are:

Seward's carriage accident that led to his severe injuries and broken jaw must have seemed like a tragedy at the time--perhaps enough to make one wonder why he'd been struck with such misfortune--but that splint from the broken jaw ended up being the only reason he survived his assassination attempt.

Grant's life story of failure after failure after failure, struggling so hard to support his family and never managing to find success, must have been almost unbearable, yet if he had found success earlier, he likely never would have risen to the heights that he did. There was a point where he was desperately in need of a job, ran for some kind of government position, and lost the election, which led to him moving back to Illinois. It must have been devastating at the time, but if he'd gotten the job, he likely wouldn't have joined back up with the army. That loss put him on the path to becoming the man who won the Civil War and became the first two-full-term president since Jackson, and it's really astounding when you think about it.

[my-deer-history]

The John Laurens walking tour of London

On my recent trip to London, I took a walk through the centre of the city, retracing the steps that John Laurens would have taken while he was living and studying law there. London’s outward appearance has changed immensely over the intervening 250 years, but its underlying structure and streets are all just as they were, and a few of the historic landmarks remain.

St Mary Axe

I shall drink Tea, in St Mary Axe this afternoon, and give advice of the Bill, &ca as you desire_

John Laurens to Henry Laurens, 20 April 1775

Starting from the furthest east is the street of St Mary Axe - notable for two locations. The first is the home of the Manning family. Henry had asked William Manning to keep an eye on his sons when he left London, so John was a frequent visitor for dinner, and his brothers often stayed with the Mannings when they weren’t at school.

The other landmark on St Mary Axe is St Andrew Undershaft, the church where John and Martha got married, and where Frances was baptised.

Source

Birchin Lane

I am writing in a great hurry as you may see, in the Carolina Coffee House

John Laurens to Henry Laurens, 1 March 1775

25 Birchin Lane was the location of the Carolina Coffee House - the London meeting place, social club and administrative centre for Carolinians in London. Business and personal correspondence sent to Carolina natives living in London would usually be directed here. John spent his fair share of time here - socialising (and arguing), writing letters, and picking up or dropping off packets for posting.

Chancery Lane

how delightful is it to Sit here talking to my Son in Chancery Lane

Henry Laurens to John Laurens, 22 January 1775

Chancery Lane was - and remains - one of hubs of the legal profession in London. It leads to Lincoln’s Inn, the oldest and biggest of the four inns of court (then, as now, legal schools for the training of barristers), housed the crown rolls (records of the crown court), and was the home of many lawyers in the city. That included Charles Bicknell, the lawyer with whose family John lived for most of his time in London.

Street numbers were rarely used in the 18th century, but I think I’ve narrowed down where on the street John lived in this post here.

Middle Temple

To morrow I shall take [Harry] to the Temple Church with me, where my Bond requires me to attend

John Laurens to Henry Laurens, 5 November 1774

John was enrolled at the Middle Temple for his legal studies. To “keep term” - in other words, meet the requirements of the school and complete one of his twelve required academic terms - John had to attend a certain number of dinners at Middle Temple Hall, which dates back to Elizabethan times.

(Fun fact - Middle Temple Hall is closed to the public, but you can go there for lunch on certain days if you pre-book! Highly recommended.)

He was also required to attend church services at Temple Church, a beautiful 12th-century church built by the Knights Templar and jointly owned by the Inner and Middle Temples.

Fludyer Street and St James’s Park

these are hard lines my Son, but not too hard for us to walk on, necessity has no Law_ remember our Conversation in St James's Park

Henry Laurens to John Laurens, 8 January 1776

When Henry and his sons first arrived in London in 1771, they stayed little further west, in what was once the separate town of Westminster. The street they lived on - Fludyer Street, which ran parallel to Downing Street - no longer exists, though you can see it marked on old maps (bottom right, leading out onto St James's Park).

Fludyer Street led straight to St James’s Park, where the Laurens family frequently took walks.

Detail from Canaletto's New Horse Guards from St James’s Park (1753)

[itlivesproject]

JUST FINISHED THE CHAPTER AND SRDTFYGUHJ the implications??? the parallels??? for each of the lis if mc is power personified?? like first you have Jocelyn who's lost her best friends to the power and unlike ilitw mc didn't have a support system way back then so all this anger has stemmed into a huge need for revenge and now you're saying the one person who calms her down or clashes with her just right is the one thing she swore to destroy? then you have Abel who's had this immense burden he's carried because of the necklace and the power and the ghosts to the extent he's lost family and now you'e telling him the one person that gives him a respite from all the work is the very thing that can endanger everything he's worked so hard to protect those near to him for? then you have Lincoln who's been introduced to the power too early and too young and has seen outright the horrible toll the power takes from others and hence he's vowed to end this one way or another and now you're telling him the one person who's come closer is the very thing that he swore to protect himself from ever again coming near? and!! AMALIA!!!! who's spent her entire life just searching for something normal and acquainting herself with someone who despite all the struggle they go through is still someone she holds near and dear to her heart and has vowed to stop the power from messing from her and anyone else again - and now you're telling her the one person who's understood her the longest and knows her more intimately than herself is the very force that has led to her destruction? how do you tell your best friend that you are nothing but a memory of death? how do you tell the person you love you're the very thing they hate?

which is to say I'm so glad the heterochromia had implications (like I knew they changed but this. this change is actually insane /pos) and I hope the break is effervescent and the plot twists continue

these musings... top notch, really. so many implications, so little time!!

[sloshed-cinema]

The Parallax View (1974)

Free filmmaking advice: don’t kick off your film by yeeting someone off the Space Needle.  For one thing, it’s probably a lot harder to pull off now with the new setup to the observation deck.  For another, how are you going to top that for sheer excitement?  Opening with a literal bang as a senator is assassinated while visiting Seattle, journalist and witness Joseph Frady becomes plunged into a dark world of conspiracy and secrecy.  Everyone present at the killing suddenly has a much shorter lifespan, and soon enough the mounting coincidences are too much for even him to handle.  Frady’s editor accuses him of being a two-bit reporter, but if nothing else he certainly has gumption and resolve.  To an extent, his investigation is detrimental to those around him—two witnesses are killed through his presence or inaction, and he offs at least one of those attempting to do the same to him.  But despite it all, he manages to make it to the heart of it all: the shadowy Parallax Corporation.  In some regards, he seems to be able to pull one over on these “human engineers.”  He passes both tests, one through guile and the other seemingly through his subliminal self.  He becomes close to his handler with Parallax, Jack Younger, and even manages to thwart an assassination attempt.  In some cases, he manages to pull of an act, behaving aggressively around Jack to seem antisocial.  But he’s still an impostor and an outsider in this world.  When Joseph stalks the Parallax assassin into the convention center where another doomed candidate will give a speech, we watch both characters ascend an escalator.  The assassin remains still, controlled and cool, an apex predator assured in his supremacy.  Joseph begins the ascent in a similar fashion, but even by halfway up he’s fidgeting and shifting, climbing steps when he could stand still.  How thoroughly did he really pull the wool over their eyes?  He may think he’s the sheep in wolf’s clothing, but he was still perfectly set up to play the patsy when another undesirable candidate bites the dust, caught in the rafters near a sniper rifle while the dead man careens ignominiously into a set of tables on his golf cart.

Yet despite the corporate dressing of the killings, this is a very political game being played.  Director Alan J Pakula makes an interesting and very intentional choice in directly brainwashing the audience through the Parallax screen test sequence.  After the lights fade on Frady in his chair, we the viewer are directly shown the same thing he sees, allowed to respond to it in whatever way we might.  The frenzy of images creates such paradoxes as to break the mind and draw out a rage response: Is America powerful or dying?  Is racism bad or good?  Are lovers sensual or depraved?  Is my father a protector or an abuser?  Is mother nurturing or feeble?  I am Thor, an Übermensch, and I am all that stands between good and evil to protect this country.  But at the same time, these images are elemental.  The film opens on a wonderful shot visually paralleling a First Nations totem pole with the Space Needle, suggesting we have always felt a compulsion to build monuments, no matter the culture.  And the images of presidents—Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington—are present in both the Parallax “orientation” video and the campy college card display at Sen Hammond’s rally.  These men are, among many other things, symbols, and symbols can be used in many ways, to many paradoxical ends.  We are all exposed to propaganda in some form.  Nobody is immune.  The film’s score knows this too, building a baseline of placidly reverential patriotic trumpets but inflecting this security with paranoiac stings.  Is the government aware of the cabal killing off select candidates?  In their Kafkaesque panel, the committee investigating these assures the public of their tireless efforts to uncover all evidence (available eventually, of course), but be certain that there are no conspiracies afoot.  There will be no questions.  Go back to your shiny cards and marching bands.  

THE RULES

SIP

A Parallax Corp pamphlet appears onscreen.

A conversation is shot through a glass door or window.

Someone is wearing sunglasses in a scene.

BIG DRINK

A piece of furniture in the Salmontail bar is broken.

Someone present at the opening assassination dies.

A shot is fired.

[glenrocklibraryteens]

My (Albeit Very Hot and Tiring) Amazing Outdoor Adventure!

First things first, I would like to announce that the National Mall is not, in fact, a mall. Call me ignorant, but I was so confused when my family told me we were going to the Mall but that the Mall is not a mall! Before you judge, say the second part of that sentence out loud. Why the heck is it called a Mall, then?! My outdoor adventure was to explore the National Mall (which is not a mall) with my family on Saturday, July 26 in 1,000,000-degree weather (I am not exaggerating! It was stupidly hot that day!) My family had gone to visit some cousins in Virginia, and they made plans to tour Washington D.C., which my brother, sister, and I had no say in but it’s okay because I only really cared about playing with the cousins’ dog, Archie. After a stomach-bursting breakfast at IHOP (WHERE HAS IHOP BEEN MY ENTIRE LIFE? Okay, fine, I get that there’s an IHOP in Fair Lawn, but seriously guys! Why have I never gone there more often?! That’s rhetorical, by the way), we took the metro to the National Mall (still upset that the name is so misleading). First stop: the Washington Monument! So the Washington Monument is really big! I know, I know, shocker, but you never realize how tall it is until you go in person! My head was literally parallel to the ground! We took some pictures and I touched it (okay it sounds stupid now, but I really wanted to touch the thing! It’s cool, okay!) and then we hopped a fence (not kidding) and made our way to the second stop of the day. Second stop: Lincoln Memorial! After dying from walking too long and from the heat and then getting resurrected to die slowly again (you try walking from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial in 1,000,000-degree weather [I’m sticking to my claim]), we finally made it to the steps. We all raced up the stairs and I got 2nd, which is basically first because the person who got first cheated and got a head start, so I won ;)! We took pictures with Super Lincoln (that guy is TALL) and had a race to see who could recite the Gettysburg Address fastest (I won again. I’m just better, y’all). Third stop: the White House! We walked for so long I think everyone was dying. After literally an hour of walking (crying), we finally got to sit… outside the White House. And I kid you not, after an hour of walking, we literally got to the White House for like 15 minutes before we had to go. Next: more walking! One time, I stopped to dump water on my head and BLISS. Judge me all you want, getting soaked was awesome. We went back to the metro (AIR CONDITIONING HALLELUJAH) and I tried and massively failed to stand during the ride. I’m telling you guys, the heat got to me. Fourth stop: the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS! This was my absolute favorite part of the day (besides Archie). I am absolutely a nerd and I love libraries. Apparently we were there for over an hour because I didn’t want to leave (oops). The architecture and art was so beautiful and there were so many books!!!!! I have found heaven, you cannot pry me away. Spoiler alert: they pried me away. I cried. Fourth and a half stop: the Supreme Court building! I say 4½ because we didn’t do much. Everyone was hot and hungry and tired and you know what that means… food! We called an Uber and waited outside the Supreme Court Building for the car. Fifth stop: The Wharf! The Uber took us to The Wharf (don’t ask me what it’s actually called, it shall forever be known as The Wharf) and we wandered around looking for food. Eventually, we stopped at Ben & Jerry’s! I got a piece of art known as a cookie sundae and we sat outside by the water to eat. After some time, my uncle left to go walk Archie and we waited for a water taxi (exactly what it sounds like. A taxi on water. What do you want me to say? …It’s a boat) to come take us to Old Town Alexandria. There was this swing that I desperately wanted to go on, so we waited our turn and all squeezed on, 3-4 people on at a time. Then we left for the taxi and I gave a shark a high five (don’t ask). AND. Sprinklers!!! We ran through with all the toddlers fully clothed and it was amazing. When we got on the water taxi (still soaked, thank you), we went straight to the front as soon as it left the dock. We went so fast over the waves! Very fun, 10 out of 10, would do again. Sixth stop: Old Town! After getting off the water taxi, we walked some more (ughhhhhh why do outdoor adventures have to involve so much walkinggg) to find a cool place to eat. There were people singing and playing guitar and I would swap our town for Old Town in a heartbeat (sorry not sorry). After lots more walking (kill me. Just kill me), we decided on a place called Augie’s. And when I say “we decided”, I mean the grownups decided without letting us kids get to have a say. Again. I’m not bitter, you’re bitter. My uncle met up with us and we chatted over dinner (mediocre, although I was probably still biased against it since we didn’t get to go to the Thai place I wanted). After eating, we caught a trolley (AAAAAAAANYTHING FROM THE TROLLEY? Sorry just can’t help myself) in the nick of time to get back to the metro and go home. And that concludes my outdoor adventure! Hopefully you have not gotten too sick of me during this journey. Despite the heat and immense levels of walking, I definitely recommend being a tourist in Washington D.C., especially if the people you’re staying with have a cute dog ;).

[oaugreer]

current state

picture taken Depaul University Lincoln Park Campus, 11/18/17

There are some women with no knowledge of their shells. The husks and hulls that make up their frame are not one with them, but live alongside them, drawn delicately at a parallel so slightly to the right. This may manifest itself in an awkwardness, an ardent dismay that pools at the brainstem while a potent, viscous shame gathers in the gut. So slightly above, so subtly below--and soon, she is not a woman, but a consciousness so precariously conjoined with an undeniably physical yet not palpable being. Tangible and intangible. Numinous due to a depression of an otherwise marvelous spirit, now transcendental in another sense. Adjacent to existence, adjacent to the earth.

This disillusionment is as common as it’s ever been. More common than one may believe, pervasive in our daily lives, we encounter these women all the time. A sigh, a smile… unless perceptive, one may never know they’ve been faced with a person like this. It is not that they are sneaky or in any way deceitful. We are simply existing, as any and all others do, in this world that welcomes and resents us. We are as any other passerby are--though I would not describe us as harmless.

Although it is not permanent, this state is enveloping. It is self-sufficient; it does not require permission, and it exposes itself to the outside observer in a variety of odd behavior.

Newfound habits and peculiarities appear--a tendency to pull at the hair framing the cheek, an itch at the point of the chin. Emotions axiomatic to an onlooker, but ambiguous to the individual--these, among so many other silent symptoms, are indicators of the syndrome both unbridled and isolating. Ultimately violent.

We can be found burning boxcars, setting streets ablaze, and bedazzling ourselves with booze. I find myself bellowing broadly to no audience or avail. I find myself bucking, I find myself...

I hope to one day breach as a whale does. Brim with brilliance, awaken with wonder. And overflow.

I am defeated I am unfulfilled I am typing when i should be carving; there is no relief from the weight of a lack of a something, I am beaten by my own brain and my own blood, I am lying in a puddle of chocolate milk and green tea and sour, molded juice of limes, chest unrising, slowly saturating, meekly marinating, in the 

I fell up the stairs the other day, up concrete brinks with my hands in my pockets. I had no way to catch the fall. I landed like a pin, bowling or needlepoint, and the shame that settled in my stomach was poignant and more familiar than anything I’d sensed in months.

Blinking, burning, as time passes. A glance at the clock makes my face contort. A pucker, a grimace. Back to tomorrow, as yesterday is a liquid I’m trying to collect, to use it to prune my fingertips. It is an attempt to tinge tomorrow with the past.

I refuse to get a flu shot. I figure it is an opportunity to have a reason to identify as feeling weak, as feeling too hot or too cold.

Ultimately, I am disgusted. My apathy. Your lack of fire. Your lack of fire. Your lack of fire.  The sweat on your brow. The spit stretching in your mouth and his and hers. 

I was not meant to be anything but conceptual. I was not meant to be celibate or to wait for the train or to run for my life. I was never meant to be colloquial. I was meant to be a vicious energy. I was meant to be demanding and bloody and feared; not bold, but brutal. I am supposed to be merciless, instead I am at the mercy of other, of circumstance, of condition and situation and this nagging, wearisome body.

I am not God’s eyelash, but God’s tooth. I am supposed to be purled into God’s spine--and instead, somehow, I am here, falsely identified as her single breath. 

I sing for so many reasons, known and unknown to me. Today (recently), I’d wanted a response. I got one--small and brief--but real. And it was relieving.

[wytfut]

Deities...

Well...   it obvious, I dwell on topics. Probably too much. But an earworm will get into my itty bitty head.... and will not stop, on and off all day. Sometimes when I come here to write, I come too early. But my head just doesn’t have the patience to wait. Then I end up editing. This very well maybe one of those times.

My topic here, may insult some folks. Not my purpose. And it may look small and petty. Also not my purpose. 

Nothing on this blog site I write is to change minds/insult anyone. Nor is it to make me look better or pity. Its my opinion well thought out or not. Hopefully its somewhat entertaining, and maybe you’ll go “hmmm”....  No, I’m not better than your or anyone else. Please just let me be me.

I grew up in a “hard core” Methodist family. It comes from the mostly German community out N. W. of Grand Island called Boelus, where my blood line comes from. 

Both sets of my farming Grandparents were involved in a big way with the local Methodist church. 

On one side of the family it wasn’t unusual to break into a bible study, or prayer at family get togethers. 

One of my favorite Uncles, was a Methodist Minister. I still admire his history/humor/understanding.... just general presense. This guy.... wow.

As I grew up, attending church was mandatory, until I reached 16, and was working at the local Cooper Lincoln movie theatre. Hours would have me coming home late, and hard to get up early. Yeah, I’ll admit it.. I liked that. 

Previously in time, I was in choir, boy scouts, God and Country, Sunday school, and more at times. Don’t forget communion. 

Once in hi school an interesting Teacher, brought to my attention that maybe Christianity may not be the cure all. Something I had never considered. Being Methodist was very boring to me, and was just something I just had to do, like it or not. Other churches I had attended thru funerals/weddings, I found no better. 

Then in college, one of my classes had a lecture from a civil disobedient Native American. His lecture set me off away from the church far and beyond. Honestly, he didn’t talk much about religion, but he brought forth a lot of questions that I could apply to many things I wondered/questioned in my exposure of life.

Things I ponder. Christianity is a smaller portion, of the world religions than what the churches tend to teach. Islam and Muslims are a much larger portion.

Many religions parallel.... not exactly, but similar. And boy howdy the denominations really do.

Many religions have extreme branches of definition. From peace and pleasure, to blood and destroy. 

I think of these things, and witnessed 2 faced folks attending church regularly...  

In the late 60′s I witnessed the “hippy” generation, and huge numbers of the Church’s youth leaving.

Why do churches have to have sooooooooo  much money?  

With a bit of history diving, churches were very influential in politics, many times thorough out history. The bible has been rewritten, and edited many times. Seemingly to make the rules fit to someone's advantage, other than the gospel/church community? I’m not the best person do define bible verses, but some of the context over the years has changed dramatically. 

As we advance technically, another thought comes about. Church not that long ago, was a source of entertainment/community/linking/socializing with others. Especially before radio and/or TV.  I know of several folks of the older generation, missing church was mentally hard, as they’d miss their friends.  Very similar to today and social media via www. 

How do I roll?  I don’t consider myself a Christian, or affiliated with any other religion. Thats too involved for me...  even stressful now. 

If a person tries thru out their life, to be a good person. I think this is all there is to it. As humans we fall down all the time. but as long as we get back up, and keep trying to do the right thing....   that’s it. Yes, the definition of “doing the right thing” can be all over the place. I didn’t say I was good at this.... 

The people that are very good at this (luck, fate, skill) will be remembered. This remembrance is my heaven. I hope when it all ends, I’m remembered as a good person and there are a few good stories about me.

I refuse to bad mouth religions (I have in humor... sorry), and respect them all. I don’t “pray”, but have been known to talk to myself, or my favorite “past” people. Its obvious, religion works for lots of people, very well. Guess I question to many things.

It gets me by daily. I don’t know of any high anxiety that perplexes me. I feel I have a large community around me. I’ve witnessed this community supporting my family several times.  

And best of all...   I’m a pretty happy kind of guy. 

My luck, I maybe completely wrong... that’s the way it usually works for me. But as a past Methodist,.....   God is all forgiving. So as I stand at the pearly gates, there will be a sign hanging on the podium “walk on in”, there will be no judgement ....   I’ll just be Bruce and walk in... 

Watch your step!

[isaiahbie]

Is Jesus Just a Mythic Hero?

It cannot be denied that the Jesus of the Gospels fits many of the classic features of mythic heroes.¹ But this does not in any way undermines the claim that the Jesus story is substantially rooted in history. Consider:

1. Even if we grant that Jesus is a classic “mythic hero,” this does not necessarily mean that He is not also a historical figure. As various scholars have shown, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and William “Braveheart” Wallace all fit the classic mythic hero pattern as well, but no one judges them to be nonhistorical for that reason. As Charles E. Murgia points out, “Conformity [to a mythic pattern] does not necessarily mean that the events did not occur.”²

2. While Jesus fits most of the traits of a mythic hero, the Jesus story also lacks some of the most standard features of hero myths. For example, the Gospels depict Jesus as a teacher, healer, and exorcist, but these are not classic traits of mythic heroes. Conversely, Jesus is not depicted as an earthly heroic warrior or king, which most mythic heroes are. These differences suggest that, while the Jesus story certainly addresses the hope typically expressed in hero myths, the story itself is not simply a hero myth.

3. Finally, the only way one can reliably determine the extent to which any ancient account is historical is by examining historical evidence, not by attempting to find parallels in mythic stories. The reason scholars accept that, for example, Lincoln, Kennedy, and Wallace were historic while Hercules, Achilles, and Asclepios were not—despite the fact that both groups have many stereotypical heroic myth traits—is because of historical evidence. So too, in order to determine whether the Jesus story is rooted in history or is a myth or legend, we have to examine historical evidence. When this is done fairly, it becomes exceedingly difficult to deny that the Jesus story is solidly rooted in history.

Notes:

¹ For a brief history of the hero myth theory, see Robert A. Segal, “Introduction: In quest of the Hero,” in Otto Rank, Lord Raglan, and Alan Dundes, In Quest of the Hero, Princeton University Press, 1990, pp. vii-xli. ² Charles E. Murgia, “Response [to Dundes],” in Protocol of the Twenty-fifth Colloquy, Center for Hermeneutical Studies in Hellenistic and Modern Culture, 12 December 1976, p. 52.

[octaviaobviously]

Our favorite Octavia scenes with other characters: [17/22]       → 17. Octavia & Ilian

[osleyakomwonkru]

Octavia as The 100′s Jesus Figure, Part 4: Bardo, The Crucifixion and Second Coming of Octavia Blake

So we’re back for a fourth part of this series, which I started after season 6, because wouldn’t you know it - there’s more to be said.

In Part 1, Origin Story and the Meeting of Two Saviours, I discussed Octavia’s origin story as the Dark Saviour and her relationship with the show’s other Saviour Lincoln, and how with his death he invested her with the mission to save all of their people.

In Part 2, Saving Humanity and the First Passion of Octavia Blake, I talked about Octavia finally accepting and understanding her mission as the Saviour, redeeming the sins of humanity, and her first Passion narrative, which was left incomplete, and thus she lived.

In Part 3, Planet Alpha and the Second Passion of Octavia Blake, I wrote about Octavia’s second Passion narrative on Planet Alpha, which led to her road to Golgotha at the Anomaly, from which she is resurrected (the Crucifixion narrative still remaining a mystery) and then meets those she knew once again, before her ascension as the Anomaly reclaimed her in the last seconds of the S6 finale.

So now, Part 4 - Here we will get into that missing Crucifixion narrative, as well as the events that come to pass with Octavia’s Second Coming, the Judgment of Humanity, and how things may have played out differently had it been Octavia who walked into the glowy ball of light instead of Cadogan, Clarke and Raven.

From Dark to Light

Before we return to that missing Crucifixion narrative, which takes place on Bardo, Octavia, along with Diyoza and Hope, land on a different planet for ten years. This planet also has its purpose in our Saviour narrative, because while the show starts on dark themes, and thus needed Octavia as a Dark Saviour, in season 7 it began to shift to a theme of light and transcendence.

Enter the appropriately named Penance.

Octavia spends ten years on Skyring/Penance/Planet Beta, healing from her pain and darkness, and thus is no longer the Dark Saviour the narrative needed her to be before to bring salvation to her people, now she can be the Light Saviour who will save all of humanity.

Her new demeanour - though I hesitate to say new because it was born of ten years of peace, plenty, family, and healing, it wasn’t new to her, merely to those who used to know her for whom time had been much shorter - is evidence of her new Light. It confuses many, because they hadn’t had the same time and healing as she had, but it is evident in every move she makes. Rather than the tornado of righteous fury that she used to be, now Octavia is the steady and calm voice of reason - to Echo, to Hope, and especially to Clarke.

But back to that crucifixion narrative.

Every Noble Crown will be a Crown of Thorns

Her peaceful world torn asunder, Octavia is taken to Bardo, and thrown into M-Cap at the first opportunity. Others have mentioned how the M-Cap headcap looks like a crown of thorns, and they’re quite right - this is where Octavia’s Crucifixion narrative comes to fruition. No one spends as much time in that crown of thorns as she does.

She fights it, at first, but when acceptance is what will provide salvation to her people (or person, in this case, being Hope), she accepts her fate and faces her past - brutal days of reliving her history as the Dark Saviour, to firmly close that chapter of her life (a symbolic death rather than just her regular baptism-rebirth cycle).

She’s freed from her crown of thorns when Hope comes. Hope, the symbol of her new Light, and the Light that she will carry with her as she returns to Sanctum to be resurrected among those she once knew, those who had believed her to be lost, but who dearly needed the Light she was to bring them.

Revelation and The Second Coming

There are a lot of different moving pieces involved in the apocalyptic scenarios of Revelation, and how these come to play in season 7 of The 100 isn’t any different. So let’s take a look at some of the other key players and how they connect to Octavia’s story.

The False Prophet, The Dragon and The Beast

Now, in my Part 3 of this series (written after the S6 finale), I predicted that Bellamy would have a large part in the revelation of Octavia’s Saviour narrative. Obviously, that part didn’t come to pass, because of Bob’s absence from the show, but you can still see hints within the narrative that suggest he would have been a part of it before Bob pulled out (most notably, the Hesperides flashback in 7x04 - this flashback is pretty pointless in the context of Hope telling Echo and Gabriel that story, but if you imagine Bellamy being there to hear about how his sister raised Hope in much the same way he raised her - then it becomes way more meaningful).

But the narrative as it played out also presents interesting Biblical allusions, by casting Bellamy in the role of false prophet, fighting on the side of the Beast (Cadogan), instead of on the side of Christ (his sister).

The false prophet is said to be the second beast to rise in Revelation 13, who has “two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon” (Revelation 13:11) who is given the authority to speak on behalf of the first Beast (Cadogan), to deceive the people so that they will worship this Beast. The false prophet having the appearance of a lamb is relevant here, because Jesus is often referred to as the Lamb of God - thus, the false prophet (Bellamy) resembles the true Saviour (Octavia), not coincidental since they are in fact siblings and thus do bear some physical resemblances.

So who is The Dragon - that is, Satan? It is easy to say that the Dragon is Sheidheda, for it is the Dragon who is imprisoned, only to be released to deceive and wage war before being finally defeated. But it goes deeper than that - The Dragon is the dark side of the Flame itself, Sheidheda’s only the last prophet of that darkness. It is the Flame that gives Cadogan, the Beast, the power he needs to rule over his people - the glimpse of the idea of Judgment Day as something for the Disciples to work towards - “The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority” (Revelation 13:2) - even when the good side of the Flame, the Humanity that Becca believed so vital, wanted to keep it from him.

The Children of the Kingdom of Heaven

Jesus says “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Octavia’s always been tied to different children throughout The 100 narrative, first as the child herself, and then others such as Gavriel, Ethan, Madi, Rose and Hope. But the important children for the purpose of this post are the three that are the “next generation” so to speak of the leading trio of the show, and their important roles in the final battle.

There’s Jordan, the Head-centered, who takes over Clarke’s role as John the Baptist, the prophet who bore witness to the Light (Jesus) so that others would believe. His testimony shows that the Final War is instead a Test, and he’s instrumental in making sure that Octavia can stop the war and pass the test to grant humanity eternal life instead.

There’s Hope, the Heart-centered, who takes over Bellamy’s role as Saint Peter, the disciple who becomes the leader of the church after Jesus’ ascension. Hope is Octavia’s grounding force, her new rock, and her love gives her strength to continue her journey.

And then there’s Madi, the Soul-centered, who is Octavia’s next generation counterpart. It’s made clear from the start of Madi’s introduction in season 5 that Octavia is her favourite, that Octavia is the one she looked up to, and even in season 7, these parallels are there, as Madi is ready to sacrifice herself to save the others, and in more peaceful ways too, like when she’s hiding in the reactor with her two new friends, reminiscent of season 1 Octavia and her friendship with Monty and Jasper. Madi, too, meets her Crucifixion in the M-Cap chair, in an even crueler and more vicious manner than Octavia did. But when Octavia saves humanity, this liberates Madi’s soul and grants her eternal life as well.

I am the Way, The Truth and the Life

Wonkru falls apart in Octavia’s absence. There’s no other way to say it. Wonkru crumbling in 7x03 is made even more conspicuous by the fact that they don’t even mention Octavia, because they’re still denying her, despite everything she brought them. They don’t realize that she’s the one to save them all, they don’t realize that, as Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 4:16) - something that they will finally come to understand in the climax of the final episode.

But it isn’t time for that story yet. First we must turn to Revelation to see what happens to Wonkru and the others on Sanctum while they’ve chosen to deny her and follow the Dragon and the Beast instead.

Here we see the different plagues that strike the unbelievers - both in Revelation 8-9 and 16.

The first to come are “ugly, festering sores [that] broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast” (Revelation 16:2) - the radiation sickness that is a marker of the broken nuclear reactor in 7x03, which claims as James as one of its first victims. If you don’t remember who he was while watching that episode, look back to 6x02, where he’s one of the people attacking Octavia in the Eligius IV mess hall. He breaks faith with her, and here suffers the consequences of that.

The second and third plagues speak of both the seas and the rivers turning to blood - references to the rivers of blood created by Sheidheda’s massacres, first of the Faithful and then of the Children of Gabriel.

The fourth plague, the sun scorching people with fire, takes us to the eclipse in 7x13, where the sky is red with the eclipse. This leads to the fifth and sixth plagues - the kingdom being plunged into darkness as Emori kills power to the reactor to bring down the shield, which makes it possible for “locusts [to come] down on the earth” (Revelation 9:3) and devour those “who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads” (Revelation 9:5).

It is only the final plague - “rumblings… and a severe earthquake… [where] the great city split into three parts” (Revelation 16:18-19) - that strikes where Octavia is, with “a loud voice from the throne, saying ‘It is done!’” (Revelation 16:17). This line from Revelation calls back to what Octavia says to Hope in 6x13 before her Ascension - “Be brave, tell him it is done” - a sign that Octavia is needed elsewhere again. And soon enough she does depart to Bardo, alongside Clarke. Meanwhile, the survivors remaining on Earth have to reunite the three groups split in the bunker - those in the rotunda (Hope, Jordan, Gaia, Indra, Miller), those in the rec room (Raven, Murphy, Emori, Jackson) and those in the bunkrooms (Echo, Niylah) - to prepare for the final war and judgment.

The Fall of Babylon

Before Octavia can bring light to the world and grant humanity transcendence, there is still one more key part of Revelation that must come to pass, and that is the fall of Babylon: That is, in this ‘verse, Clarke.

Throughout Biblical narrative, Babylon stands in opposition to Jerusalem and its righteousness, just how in The 100 narrative Clarke and Octavia have always been set as foils to each other. Now, Clarke isn’t evil per se, but she’s always been set in her ways and doubles down when questioned about her past deeds - as we see both in how she faces the Primes in 6x03 and the Judge in 7x16. She doesn’t learn, and so she fails. Clarke, like Babylon, is locked out of heaven for not learning the patience and humility that Octavia did: “For her sins are piled up to Heaven, and God has remembered her sins. Give back to her as she has given, pay her back double for what she has done.” (Revelation 18:5-6).

With Clarke fallen, it is now time to begin the Final Judgment.

Final Test and Judgment

After Clarke’s fall, someone must step in to advocate for humanity, to guide the Judge’s gaze to the righteous, to the Saviour - Raven steps through the glowing orb to do so. So which figure in Revelation is most suited here? None other than the writer of Revelation themselves, historically considered to be John of Patmos, who is given these visions by the angels as a warning for humanity.

Raven bore witness to a number of the plagues, and while not always a believer in Octavia - in fact, out of all characters around for all seven seasons, they’ve shared the least screentime with each other - but they’ve still fought on the same side. Also of relevance here is that Raven’s been granted visions in the narrative of the show, like John of Patmos has in Revelation - though hers came as a result of ALIE.

While the Judge takes Raven to the battlefield in Bardo to prove humanity to be unworthy, this battlefield is instead where Octavia proves humanity to be worthy. Indra and Wonkru follow Octavia’s lead, finally recognizing that their only way to salvation was through her (see John 4:16 above), and after the Disciples too laid down their weapons, humanity is deemed worthy and the Judge grants them eternal life in the form of transcendence - rising to the heavens in the manner of the Rapture, “We who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Where is the Judgment of the Dead?

Now, one thing missing in season 7 compared to the Book of Revelation and Jesus’ Second Coming is the Judgment of the Dead and welcoming those worthy into the domain of Heaven.

A longstanding phrase in The 100 has been “May We Meet Again”. This is part of the Traveler’s Blessing of Skaikru, and one that they use frequently with one another even in non-death contexts. So with that phrase, a lot of people expected that the dead would also be able to be part of transcendence somehow, and that beloved characters would then also be present on the beach in the final scene as they rejected transcendence to live mortal lives.

I believe, given everything in the past posts about Octavia, that had she been the one to go into the ball of light to face the Judge personally, rather than saving humanity on the battlefield, that this would have happened.

While logically I believe the best form for the Judge to take for Octavia would have been Diyoza, since Diyoza was her greatest teacher, her mind would be more likely to choose her greatest love, Lincoln - who, if we go back to Part 1 of this series, we remember is the other Saviour of this show’s narrative.

That would have been a reunion even more epic than the Clarke and Lexa reunion that the show gave us, for Lincoln and Octavia were far closer and together for far longer. And if the Transcendents possessed the powers that they do - instant genocide by crystallization at the wave of an arm, transcendence through the blink of an eye, restoration of healthy and whole bodies if those souls reject transcendence - then surely raising the dead would’ve been a simple task.

The only reason that couldn’t happen was extratextual - there was no way Ricky would work with JRoth again, and so this extra dimension, this aspect of the narrative that could have made things so much sweeter and less bitter, had to be put aside.

Now, that doesn’t diminish Octavia’s Saviour narrative in the least - she did still save humanity. She did still bear the sins of the human race, she was still mocked, cast out and sent to her crucifixion by those who denied her. She did still return from that symbolic death, resurrected, then ascended. When she faced Wonkru again - remember, that battlefield in 7x16 is the first time the bulk of Wonkru has seen her since 5x13 - it was in her Second Coming to bring the Final Judgment to them. The trials they’d faced in Sanctum in her absence showed them the truth - that they had to believe in her again to achieve their salvation.

She was the Way, the Truth and the Life of The 100 universe, and no one would have reached transcendence except through her.

[bellamyblake]

As usually I'm a big fan of your meta, I was wondering what you would say Bellamy and Clarke's biggest tragedies are and if they define them and how do you think they define them as characters? Thank you

ohhh, another very tough question! thank you, nonnie!

well i'd say that if you look from the outside perspective of things, that is the not fandom side of things, like if you pull yourself out from all of it you can quite clearly define their tragedies and what shapes them as characters and more importantly, why they are HEAD and HEART to begin with.

i think because it is not as much talked to on the show, their first tragedies and what shapes them tend to get quite undermined (that also is because the show really does bring so many tragedies in their lives as well, one crises over the other, so we tend to ask ourselves not only when does it end but where it began, right?)

and for me i think it all began both similarly and at the same time very differently, a paradox of sorts, just like the head and the heart.

both their first tragedies were about their parents.

bellamy loses his mother and feels guilt over it because he was the reason for it to happen, taking octavia to that dance, do you ever wonder how many times he probably asked himself in that year on the ark all alone-what if he had just stayed home, what if he never took her, right?

his mom's passing was his first major sin and that is one of the reasons why i was certain that if he, as a character was to die and if j/ason was any semblance of a storyteller, he had to bring his mom before the end and i was right even if he absolutely fucked it up. you had to go to that original first big tragedy/sin just like clarke saw her dad more than once right?

and i should add here that bellamy can't be entirely blamed for what happened. i think aurora herself knew this was inevitable it was just the question of when and how and bellamy ended up being the answer to those questions.

i think it wasn't just bellamy who stopped existing the day octavia was born-from then on his mom was a ghost of herself, a person as if sick with case of untreatable cancer-she knew she was going to die, she was living on borrowed time, how much?

nobody knew but i assume with time, seeing as how much bellamy loved octavia, she guessed it could be him who resulted in this and i still believe it'd have been great to see that last moment before she was floated that i am sure happened between her and bellamy and what they talked about.

anyway- that aside

so his first big tragedy was his mom's passing and clarke's was her dad's and those two deaths shape their stories going onward.

bellamy is all heart, he is all family, he is all about saving those you let into your heart and fighting for them no matter what. his tragedy is that he loves too much and in his love he makes mistakes because he just wants them to be okay but they never truly are no matter what he does, right?

he is a character looking within, both himself and everyone else-he loves passionately and dearly and it is to a point that can kill him and everyone else as it becomes reckless in its goodness-so those are both his blessings and his curse.

aurora set a model for him-family is everything.

i think one problem the show never truly managed to fix is that octavia and bellamy's protective streak over her sl ended in season 1. bob talks about it himself-it was finished and from then on it should've only ever extended to the others AND octavia but not just her. that works well in season 2 and 3 but then it regresses after her beating and HIS beating up over what happened and what he did for the good of the many that ended up leading to a massacre. and they never let him get rid of that constant self-beating that chases him from the moment his mom dies.

so we have bellamy, family, heart.

clarke's model is quite the opposite, set as an example by her dad who wants to tell the truth about the ark and let people decide, take care of THE many, not the FEW or just HIS family. clarke takes up on that model and she never stops fighting for it. on many instances she doesn't just fight for the 100, she fights for her father too and for what this belief that people deserve the truth and that THEIR people should be saved stands for, right?

so she is external, head.

and what i think makes both of them as characters and as a dynamic so unique and why people love the head and the heart parallel is THEIR meeting point.

ultimately bellamy and clarke fight for the same thing, coming from different angles. so bellamy extends his heart to not just his sister, but jasper, monty, monroe, harper, etc, all the hundred and grows to LOVE and care for them as HIS family, as part of one WHOLE and he FIGHTS for that family and Clarke looks on it logically, accepts the 100 as HER people now who she has to TAKE care of like her dad wanted to take care of the arkers and she intends to fight tooth and nail to do this.

apart from those first big tragedies that set the trajectories of who they are as people, as characters, i'd rather say for Clarke her first next big tragedy is killing Finn and Mount Weather and for Bellamy it is Mount weather and then the bombings of it that results in Gina's death.

Those two lead to two bigger tragedies and mistakes-one is losing L/exa for Clarke and the massacre for Bellamy as well as Lincoln's demise.

That is why by the time they reach season 4 I believe both of them are sad and d.epressed as fuck, say what you want about it but so many things in the dialogue point out to it, for Clarke it is so pronounced you can basically shudder if you take out just those lines of hers and frankly I think so is for Bellamy.

They believe they ultimately failed at their goal-they tried to do the best to save their kids/their people by killing other kids/people and losing others that they loved-they are so lost and alone that I think both of them in a way welcome the death wave and don't believe they should ever survive or outrun it.

And as much as I don't like the time jump it was in part a necessity. They couldn't keep being the same people IF we wanted to see them alive-they simply had stopped existing they were so sad, so they had to be buried in the ashes and reborn and they were.

How well it was done is another question but anyone who fails to see what happened to them isn't really paying attention.

So...that's all I guess LOL.

[ninjaboy13779546]

Never Alone💚🖤(Sylki)

***Lamentis-1***

It was over, all hope now lost. Loki and Sylvie had just ran and fought through what seemed like a small army of guards, all the while dodging falling meteors and debris from buildings around them. And yet, it was all for nothing. For the Ark that they fought so hard to reach had been destroyed by an incoming meteor just seconds after takeoff.

The sight left Loki and Sylvie there, shocked, winded, and hopeless. To the point where Sylvie had left Loki to stand there in shock while she walked off.

It took a moment to come down from his adrenaline rush for Loki to realize he was alone. Looking around, he noticed Sylvie was nowhere around and ran off to go find her. That didn't take too long as he soon found her in an abandoned bar that they had ran through for cover a little earlier. He walked in and joined her at her place at the bar and took a seat.

"Well, other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" He joked.

That earned him a confused look from Sylvie as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"That's something I heard back on Earth." He explained, "Humans use it when a situation turns out to their misfortune."

"Right," she replied, still quite surprised as she poured him a drink as well.

When she finished pouring, she pushed Loki's glass to him and he took it with a half smile. "Thank you." He thanked her and she nodded back.

"To us, then," he stated, holding his glass up. Sylvie snickered at that and clinked the butt of her bottle with his glass and they both took their drinks. However, she actually 'bottoms upped' the bottle and took a few gulps which took a whole half of the bottle within those gulps, almost like superspeed. Seeing this surprised Loki and made him laugh lightly. "Well, you certainly drink like an Asgardian." He joked.

Hearing that, she paused and let out a hearty belch before slamming the bottle down onto the counter, but not too hard to break it.

"I'll take that as a compliment." She replied, giving him a momentary smile before leaning forward on the counter. With that she sighed heavily and shook her head.

Loki noticed all of this and could tell her mood was down. He knew it might not be the best question, but he still wanted to show some form of... compassion to Sylvie. So he went ahead and asked, "Are you alright?"

The blonde lifted her head and look at her counterpart before looking off and shaking her head.

"You know, I honestly don't even know why I'm so upset about it right now." She stated.

Loki furrowed his eyebrows at that. "What do you mean, upset about what?"

"This, Loki! The Ark, trying to get to it in time! I already knew it wasn't going to work, and yet I still ran..."

"We both did. You didn't do it alone. I was there too, remember?"

"Yeah," she hummed, "I suppose that's true."

"And yet you still went along with the idea, my idea mind you, and we both ran and fought together to try and get there."

As much as she hated to admit it, Loki was right. She had done all of that. "Touché." She replied, earning a laugh from them both. Loki's more lively than hers and hers was more suppressed.

Their laughter was cut short when the ground and building shook on account of another meteor impacting in the city outside. The quake lasted only seconds before slowly calming down. As it did, Loki let out a sigh of his own. This truly had been quite a day. First he'd met "The Variant", Sylvie she called herself. And she was quite fetching, formidable too. Just like him...no pun intended. They'd snuck onto a train, shared secrets, thrown from the train and tried to reach a rescue vehicle known as The Ark. Failing miserably in the end. And now, here they were. In a bar, awaiting their fate.

With that thought in mind, Loki's thoughts seemed to drift to him and Sylvie. All that they were able to do when they worked together. They actually worked so in sync, quite the dynamic. In fact, it actually made him...curious. "So why'd you do it?" He asked.

Sylvie looked at him with a side-eyed look. "Do what?"

"Run with me, go with my idea? If you knew the Ark was going to be destroyed regardless, why did you go along with it?"

And right there, Sylvie couldn't speak. Well, not that she "couldn't", but the answer to that was somewhat hard to put into words...for her, that is.

"Oh, I figured a good run would be fun before we die." A sarcastic smile showing as she said that, but Loki wasn't amused. Instead he still sat there with an eyebrow raised, awaiting an answer. Seeing this made Sylvie sigh and reach up to rub the temples on her head. Finally coming to terms with it, she reluctantly spoke it. "I was ready to give up and just about kill you too, to be honest...but, when you said that thing about the Ark never having us on it, it...it made me think...'maybe, just maybe we could do it.'...But it's over now and turned out to be a waste of time."

Hearing Sylvie explain that gave Loki a warm poke to the heart and a bit of pride too. One of his signature devilish smiles made it's way to his face and he gave a light chuckle. Sylvie noticed this and looked at him curiously.

"So you're saying that I...gave you a bit of hope, as it were."

Sylvie rolled her eyes at that but couldn't fight back the smile that came to her face as well. "Oh shut up, you!"

"Oh no, it's quite alright." The God of Mischief said, still holding that smile, "in fact, it's quite flattering to know."

His counterpart laughed and looked at him unbelievingly and shook her head before he gave her a wink.

This made her laugh a little harder at him, as did he With the moment. But their laughter was cut short by another piece hit outside, making the whole pace shake.

This made them both perk up, having almost forgotten what was happening outside. The shaking only lasted about two seconds before it slowly died down.

As it did, the two slowly began to settle back into their spots.

Loki, not wanting to end so...quietly, thought up a way to somewhat ease the tension. "Well, seeing as how we haven't got much longer, is there anything you'd like to say?"

"What're you talking about?"

"You know, like any last words. Maybe of sentiment, regret... confession." He gave a shrug.

Sylvie merely scoffed at that and held her look confusion. "Since when did you become so emotional? If you're anything like me, you ought to know that I don't do teary goodbyes or anything like that."

She had Loki there, that was true. But he also had a hidden ace to toss back. "And if you're anything like me, you know that you don't because those kind of moments make it to where we merely choose not to." When he said that, Sylvie knew she was cornered...so to speak. "Come on, Sylvie. We may not be honest to many others, but can't we at least be honest to each other?...I thought we trusted each other."

It was that last sentence, that last sentence that did it for her. Her breath hitched in her throat and her heart began to beat like a drum. Deep down, Sylvie sadly knew Loki was right. This might be the only chance she'd get to have some last tender words...and be honest about them too. And if there was anyone she could share them with, Loki for sure would not be her first choice. But he was currently all she had at the time so he'd have to do.

Before she could actually reply, the ground vibrated and the building shook as another meteor hit the moon outside. The shockwave from it hit them and shook the place once again before stabilizing soon after.

"Right, well...I didn't get to finish my mission, and now I get to die with a stupid parallel version of myself."

Loki simply closed his eyes and chuckled to himself before opening them again to see Sylvie smiling cheekily at him before wiggling her eyebrows at him as she had done earlier that day on the train.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" He asked.

"No, you're right, it was quite nice." She smirked, her words dripping with sarcasm and tease. "Your turn."

Loki actually took some time to "Well, to be honest, I don't have much to say."

"Well that's a first." She quipped with a smirk.

Loki looked to her, feigning hurt before expanding. "What I mean is, I've only a mere handful of actual good memories, the majority of them were before I grew into my adolescent years."

As he spoke about that, Sylvie listened and her breath hitched a bit. Because that was exactly how it was for her too.

"But, I can say that...well...as far as family goes, my parents were quite... interesting...I do suppose I'll miss them...more or less. And as for Thor, as annoyingly valiant as he may be...he was always trying to look for the good in me...sometimes even at the cost of his own life." Loki thought back to his video file he watched back at the TVA headquarters, when saw and heard Thor say that he believed that there was good in him and that her still stand with him, despite all he'd done in the past, he still would. Tears began to well up in Loki's at that, and it seemed to hit him. He actually missed Thor, he truly did. "I honestly couldn't have asked for a better brother...one I don't even deserve...but I'm glad I had him...yeah."

And that bit right there made Sylvie's heart pinch, and a tear began to form in her eyes. From the sound of it, Loki had had people try to be there for him since Day One. Even when he did bad things, they still showed him loved and mercy, giving him another chance...something she never had.

"Wow," she said out loud, "sounds like you had it all."

Loki shrugged at that and wiped his tears, composing himself. "Well, what about you?" He asked, getting the topic off him, "What about this 'postman' of yours? If he was here right now, what would you say to him?"

"That uh...that was really a joke. I said it to try and shut you up, but that obviously didn't work."

"Ohhh. So then, you don't have anyone waiting for you after all, do you? No family, no lover...not even any friends?"

Sylvie merely gave him a silent shake of the head and began to feel tears forming in her eyes. "When you're on the run from an organization that has control over all time for over twenty years...you doing exactly have much time to stop and make friends."

"So you truly are alone..." It was more of a 'realization' statement than a question, and it was confirmed by the silent nod and saddening look forming I'm her face.

Now, Loki felt a few years coming himself, or at least the need to. Here was a girl who had everything taken from her, lost much in very painful ways, and...who wanted to belong. All of these, seemed to define him currently right now. It was then Loki felt something he hadn't for quite a while...empathy.

"I'm sorry..."

Sylvie lifted her head at that and looked at him. "For what?"

"That your life was broken by the TVA, that I've intruded on your plan...And I am especially sorry that you've been alone, all this time."

Hearing this fro. Loki hit Sylvie like a ton of bricks. These was something she hadn't really heard throughout her years much. They were words of comfort and empathy, she was able to see. But she felt as though there was more.

"And for what is worth, I promise you," Loki continued, reaching for her hand and giving it a firm squeeze, "you won't be alone when this moon is gone...not this time."

Looking into him deeply, Sylvie could see there wasn't one hint of deception within his words. They were all sincere, caring and compassionate. She couldn't help but crack a smile at his words. "Thank you." She tearfully replied, sniffling a little.

Loki gave a short nod and smiled, not letting go of her hand. And she didn't let go of his either, instead holding it tightly herself.

Since the moment was tender and open, Sylvie felt a sense of safety and comfort with her next words. "Listen, Loki, since we're dying soon, I think I should confess something to you. About you, actually."

"Alright, what is it?"

"Back on the train, when you tried to tell me what love is, or how you understood I should say," she tried.

"Yes?"

"Well, your dagger metaphor was actually quite... accurate."

Once again, his smile returned and he had a light chuckle. "Did you just compliment me?"

Sylvie rolled her eyes and chuckled herself. "Don't let it go to your head."

"Oh no, but that's the best part of it! Not letting that go, ever."

"Well since we're confessing something, I guess I can share this." The God of Mischief let out a breath before continuing, "I do feel bad that there isn't anyone waiting for you... because if they were, they would have...quite the enchantress to expect. And I mean that in every sense of the word."

A twinkle in her eyes as Sylvie took in those words and felt her cheeks hear up. "That may be the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

"Well I'm honored to be the first." Loki smiled and took a dramatic bow, earning a other laugh from Sylvie.

Suddenly, another ground shake came, this one more severe than the last. And then more kept coming simultaneously. From this the two Variants could tell, the moon's end was among them.

"It seems as though our time is up."

"Yep," Sylvie agreed.

"Not exactly how I pictured dying this time, but, looks like there's no escaping this one."

Suddenly, an idea popped into Sylvie's head. "What if there was?" She asked Loki.

"What?"

Sylvie held up one of her hands and tapped her temple, referring to her power of enchantment, "If you let me in, I could use it to send you to a place within your memories and you won't feel it when the pain comes. It'll be just like a light turning off and turning a room dark...A peaceful ending."

While the idea did sound quite an appealing alternative to what was coming from outside, there was still one thing that worried him. "Well what about you?"

At that, a soft smile came to Sylvie as she heard the worry in Loki's voice. "It's ok, I'll be alright."

"No!" Loki retorted, determination in his eyes. "I will not let you send me off to some mental paradise while you stay here and endure this death alone! No, I made a promise that when you died, you would not do it alone. That I would be RIGHT HERE to suffer through it with you, and by Odin, I'm sticking to it!"

Like a hunter after prey, Loki was determined to stick with Sylvie. Now truthfully, she could've put him into his trance as he was ranting to her. Yet, she was mesmerized by the loyalty and compassion that Loki displayed in this very moment. Dare she say, she actually found it...attractive.

"Well what do you propose we do then?" She asked sweetly.

Almost instantly, Loki thought of an idea. "We could both could go. We could send each other into my memory and ride it out together."

From this a light smile came to her lips and a tear escaped from her eyes. Yet again this " idiot" she'd grown fond of thought up a way for them both still to work together and still have a peaceful ending. However, there was also one more sad factor that was left out. "But you don't know how to do it."

"Teach me, right now. Crash course lesson."

A look of hesitation appear in her eyes, but another squeeze from Loki's hand seems to break the ice as she let out a sigh and gave a short nod. "All right. First thing, go into your mind and think about a place you've been that you want to go. Once you find it, hold it there."

With those instructions, Loki them closed his eyes and began to think of a place. It took a moment and his thoughts surprised even him, but he finally found one and held on to it. "Ok, I've got it."

"Got it? Ok, now," Sylvie brought her hand up and positioned it as though she was getting ready for an arm wrestle. Fortunately, Loki knew what this meant and met her halfway, locking his hand with hers. "for this part, you need to clear your mind. Clear it out and focus on my voice. You should be able to see into my mind now...can you see me...can you?"

Loki searched and searched through the darkness, at first nothing. But what he found that helped was focusing on the sound of Sylvie's voice. He listened to it and it echoed throughout his brain. Focusing on it seems to make everything thing else around them slip away. Suddenly, a green spark of power emanated from his fingers and against her temple. He could feel her there and mentally moved towards her. The more he did, the brighter a small light which represented her presence seemed to shine until it shined purely within the darkness. He'd found her, he'd done it!

Eyes still closed, he smiled happily as he nodded. "I did it, I found you!"

Sylvie smiled at this and shed another tear of joy. It was working! She could feel him within her mind and he her too. "Good job! Now think back to that place you want to be...And take us there."

Finally, Loki focused on the place in his mind and also Sylvie, bringing her with him. Aaaaannnd...

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It seemed to happen almost like a flash, but when the two opened their eyes and looked to see where they were, they could see that they weren't in the bar on Lamentis-1 anymore. Well, at least not physically.

They were now on a cliff that was somewhat familiar to Loki. He learned of it at the TVA when he watched his file on video. And now, here it was. A mental reality for him and Sylvie.

At first glance, Sylvie could tell they were in the countryside of some area. But curiosity still plagued her.

"Where did you bring us?" She asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Looking out to the open sea before them, Loki began to feel tears form once again. "...This is where my father died."

Sylvie's head swiveled to look up at Loki, her eyes wide with surprise after hearing his words. "What?" She breathlessly asked.

Loki silently nodded, letting out a heavy sigh through his nostrils. "I saw this place in my file at the TVA...It's actually from my...well, what would've been my future."

Sylvie's heart began to ache for Loki. He truly had, in a way, come full circle, and yet it was still fraught with pain.

"I'm so sorry, Loki."

"It's ok. I'm sure my father was peaceful here when he died...He told me and Thor to remember this place...home."

"And you did," Sylvie lovingly commended Loki, looking him straight in his eyes, "and for the next few minutes or however long we have, it's our home now." She hugged him from the side to which he tearfully smiled and immediately hugged her back.

As he did, he thought about her previous words. Those were truly sincere and, well, loving. And he loved it. Opening his eyes to look at her, he noticed how close his face was to the top of her head which was buried in his chest. Feeling a sense of boldness, he lowered his nose into her hair and took in a good whiff of her scent. This did not go unnoticed by the woman as she perked her head up and eyed Loki with a teasing look.

"Were you just sniffing my hair?" She asked, already knowing the answer, but she still wanted to hear what he'd say.

Loki tried to play it off, but failed miserably. "No." His crooked smile was almost a dead giveaway.

Sylvie lifted an eyebrow with an "Oh really?" look before looking at his chest where his heart would be and smirked, she could feel his heart beginning to speed up. "Liar. Your body betrays you."

I'm that moment, Loki chuckled nervously and began to blush. Something that didn't really happen to him very often, if at all. "Can you blame me?"

Back in the real world, the two variants, while still in their deep-minded states, shifted their hands to interlock their fingers, strengthening their bond.

A small burst of green energy flashing their interlocked hands.

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***Cliff, Loki's Subconscious***

Loki and Sylvie were still locked in their embrace until they say down on the huge boulder, still holding hands and looking out onto the open sea.

"It's beautiful, " the blonde variant stated, smiling at the water that reached all the way to the horizon.

"Right, beautiful," Loki agreed. But Sylvie felt that they weren't talking about the same thing. Turning her vision to him, she saw him staring at her instead of the horizon. He obviously found this view far more beautiful than the nature about them.

This caused to Sylvie to smile shyly before blushing herself. She lowered her to hide the red coming in her cheeks, but it was brought back up by Loki who had a finger under her chin. The feeling giving the blonde a warm feeling in her face and all over, while it gave Loki another small burst of courage.

Taking the hand already under her chin, he moved it to cup the back of her neck and slowly lean forward. To his surprise, Sylvie followed suit and leaned in as well. They kept nearing until they were just a lips distance away from each other.

"Loki?"

"Yes, Sylvie?"

"Thank you for not leaving me alone."

"Never."

With one final smile thanks to that, it was Sylvie who leaned the rest of the way in and brought her lips to his, cupping his cheek as she closed the small gap between them. Once their lips collided, Loki felt a strong wind blow, as did Sylvie. But this was the good kind, the kind that came when your heart is bursting with excitement.

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***Reality***

The green swirls that surrounded the two grew stronger and shined brightly as the meteors outside came hurtling down, cracking the ground and taking out multiple buildings in the process. The moon had only seconds left.

Everyone outside had either sought shelter or ran frantically to avoid the incoming shower from above. But in this building, these two, Loki and Sylvie were oblivious to the forthcoming horrors of the outside world. For they were happy within their own little sanctuary, content with each other.

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***Loki's Subconscious***

After what seemed like a glorious eternity, the two variants finally broke their kiss and came up for air. They breathed heavily and leaned their foreheads against each other and looked into one another's eyes, breathless smiled coming with them.

And though they wanted to continue, they resisted the urge and kept their eyes looked on each other and decided this was how they wanted to end. Looking into one another's eyes, the eyes of the one they had...the one they had fallen in love with.

"This is it." Loki stated.

"I guess so," Sylvie agreed.

The two took the other's hands and held tightly. Their end close at hand.

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***Reality***

A huge junk of the cracking planet was now hurtling toward the moon, and it's landing point would be RIGHT in the city of Lamentis-1. None of the people within a mile of there would survive, more specifically, Loki and Sylvie, who were still in their enchanted state, would not survive.

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***Bar***

Suddenly, a golden time portal opened up within the bar and Hunter B-15 and two other Minutemen came through and Saw the two variants they had searched relentlessly for.

"Get them!" She ordered.

The Minutemen complied and marched over to the bar and grabbed Loki and Sylvie, pulling them apart.

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***Cliff, Loki's Subconscious***

Loki and Sylvie awaited their fate, hands together and foreheads connected. With eyes locked in each other until...

Everything went dark.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Beth’s Template in S11

Okay Bethyl Enthusiasts! Here goes!

I’ve been promising to talk to you about exactly what I think will happen in S11 with Beth’s arc, and that’s what I’m going to do today. I’ve had a basic idea of things for a while, now, but these bonus episodes and their epic symbolism have really kicked things into high gear. They’ve helped me see things more clearly and even helped give me a more definitely (disclaimer: though still somewhat fluid) timeline for how/when it will all happen.

So, of course we all hoped to see her in ep 22. But if he we had, it would have had to have been in a coda. Like a preview of some kind. Because they didn’t quite get to the part of the story where I’m expecting to see her. But I’ll get into that in more detail.

So, we’ve been saying for a while that we think she’ll come through Eugene’s storyline, so that’s what I’ll be focusing on here. Because that’s specifically what I think we’ll see in S11. @wdway has found a TON of Beth symbolism around Eugene. She did most of her investigating and reporting over the long, CoVid hiatus, but I haven’t gotten around to posting much of it. Maybe I still will. We’ll see. There’s been so much to talk about lately.

Let me also state that, while I firmly believe we’ll see Beth in S11, I don’t think we’ll get to the point where Daryl will see her. And yes, that kinda sucks. But they probably won’t have their reunion until the spinoff. I know the Bethyl reunion is what we’re all waiting for, but hey, at least once we see her, we’ll know it’s coming, right?

So let’s start by going through the relevant template.

I’ve mentioned parts of this before, so I apologize if any part of it is repetitive. But it will help you if  you understand not just what I believe we’ll see, but why.

So, let’s return to 6x08/09. At the end of 6x07,  the church fell and all the walkers got into Alexandria. Eugene ends up in a garage with Tara and Rosita. They can’t get into the house connected to the garage because the dividing door is locked. After a discussion between the two ladies about whether they’re going to give up hope or else “do something,” Eugene offers to pick the lock and they get inside.

Inside, Morgan was keeping Creepy Wolf Dude (who I’ll abbreviate CWD) in the basement. He brought Denise (Beth proxy) in to patch up his injury, which she does. Carol wants to kill CWD and tries, but Morgan stops her. He’s on his “all life is precious” kick and ends up body slamming Carol, so she passes out. But when his back is turned, CWD also hits him over the head, so Carol and Morgan are both down for the count.

Just then, Eugene, Rosita and Tara enter, but CWD takes Denise hostage and leaves.

Everyone with me?

Okay, let’s start with Denise. Because of the way she died, Daryl’s reaction to her death, and AALLLLLL the Beth symbolism around her, she’s clearly a proxy for Beth. So what I’m going to argue is that this little sequence is a foreshadow and template for how she’ll be reintroduced into the show. Notice how Daryl isn’t present in any of these scenes. So again, this is how we, the audience will see her. Not how Daryl will first see her. Kapish? Okay.

So, I think Eugene unlocking the door to a new place represents him finding or “unlocking” a new community. Kinda like the one he, Yumiko, Zeke, and Princess are now in the process of discovering.

How did we come up with that? I honestly don’t remember in detail. Like I said, it’s something we’ve discussed for a long time. I think we started with Denise=Beth and worked backward from there. It kind of feels like out of all the members of TF, Eugene will see her first, but then she’ll be taken away from him right away.

Now, he’s in the midst of discovering new people/a new community. A few other pieces of evidence for this:

1)      Before they run into the garage, right after the church falls, Eugene gets on the radio and calls for help. Remember, Daryl hears him? So that parallels to Eugene talking with Stephanie via the radio.

2)      If you go through the dialogue of Rosita and Tara in this scene and compare it to dialogue in the scene in 10x16 between Yumiko and Ezekiel (the scene where his horse dies) the parallels are ridiculous. They aren’t the exact same lines of dialogue, but the meanings and chronology of it is almost exact.

3)      In terms of Denise = Beth, before she patches up Creepy Wolf Dude, she says to him, “show me the wound.” In Rick’s dream in 9x05, we heard Beth’s voice say, “What’s your wound?” It’s almost like they were trying to show us that Denise = Beth and that this template would play out with her return.

Okay, I hope that’s all clear. Shit’s about to get really interesting.

Before we continue, I want to remind you of THIS POST I did about 5x09. If you haven’t read it, I suggest doing so. I talk about the radio voice in 5x09 and how it talks about “attacks against the republic.” We couldn’t have known what that meant before, but now it’s clear that it’s a foreshadow of the CRM and the CRM war, which won’t happen until the spinoff.

It’s super interesting because Andrew Lincoln was the radio voice (he’s currently with the CRM) but he has his English accent. (I’ll tell you why that’s important in a minute. It wasn’t a casual or irrelevant choice on the writers’ parts.) So if that suggests Rick being with the CRM, which he is, it’s kind of interesting that Beth’s voice, singing “Struggling Man” also comes out of the radio at first, before we see her sitting there singing it. That suggests that she, too, will be with the CRM and part of the CRM war. None of Ty’s other death hallucinations spoke from the radio. I’m just saying.

The voice there even mentioned brutal attacks against the republic, including setting people on fire and hacking them with machetes. And that’s important because that’s just what the wolves did at Alexandria, and in the above template, we have CWD taking Denise (Beth). So it’s all interconnected.

But even so, I’ve had a hard time nailing down what it means and what the story line will actually be when Beth return.

Enter episode 10x21 and @bluesandbeth​’s inspired research.

In ep 21, Carol snoops around in Daryl’s room and finds the book “The Golden Age of Piracy.” Now, I’ll admit I didn’t look into this reference very extensively because I THOUGHT I knew what it meant. We had a “pirates” reference between Daryl and Carol in 10x01, when they first discussed leaving together on his bike. Since we already know they’ll be leaving together for the spinoff, that conversation was a foreshadow of what will happen in the spinoff. And if you’ve been following my posts,  you know that I see their whole arc in the bonus episodes (6x18 and 6x21) as a foreshadow of that same story line. So to me it was just another confirmation of the spinoff arc.

Then @bluesandbeth contacted me because she’d been looking into the Golden Age of Piracy book. She looked up the author and found out some interesting things. This author is real and basically wrote two kinds of historical books. (X) Books about piracy, and books about the American Revolutionary War. The author wrote a book called Greene and Cornwallis. (X)

Yikes! Yes, Greene is a real person and a patriot who stood against Cornwallis in the Revolutionary War. But what are the chances the writers use an author who just happens to have written a book with Beth’s last name in the title?

Historically, Nathaneal Greene was George Washington’s top general and right hand man during the war. I’ll come back to him. For now, it’s enough that he shares Beth’s last name.

I immediately hopped online to see what @bluesandbeth​ was seeing and look for more. And boy did I stumble upon a treasure trove!

I noticed a second book by this author called Swamp Fox. (Full title is Francis Marion: Swamp Fox.)

Now, you may wonder why that caught my attention. It’s not anything I ever posted about. It has to do with Leah. While me and my fellow theorists were discussing her and episode 10x18 endlessly, we noticed that Leah often wore a fox-fur scarf:

We conjectured back and forth about what it meant. Foxes, just like most animals, can have many different symbolic meanings depending on what culture you’re looking at. They’re often seen as sneaky and wily and deceptive, so we wondered if it was a reference to the writers “deceiving” us because Leah is a hallucination. But that was about the best we could come up with.

Well, when I saw the title of Swamp Fox, I immediately thought of Leah. And of course symbolically, Leah = Beth. So I decided to investigate.

And guess what? When I started reading about the Swamp Fox book, all the stuff from the S6 template above and the 5x09 stuff about Beth being part of the CRM war started clicking into place so fast, it made my head spin.

The Swamp Fox is about Francis Marion, a real man and patriot who also fought against the British during the American Revolutionary war. He’s the guy Mel Gibson’s character in The Patriot is based on. He faced down Cornwallis (one of the main British generals during the American Revolution) and was awesome at guerilla tactics and staying hidden. You know, in the swamp. Hence, they called him Swamp Fox.

Does that sound familiar to you? Think about what Andy Lincoln/Radio Voice said in 5x09 about Guerilla warfare and attacks against the Republic. You could describe Francis Marion’s military career any better if you tried.

And then I went to Wikipedia to look up general information on Marion and pictures of the British flag are all over the place.

Okay, this is another thing that won’t be very familiar to you because I haven’t focused on it much. In one of the episodes of TWB, Julia Ormond’s character is at home and we see a huge British flag hanging on her wall. Not surprising, given that she’s British. But it was such a huge, blatant symbol, and the camera focused on it for so long, that we figured it had to mean something. We just didn’t know what. The best we could figure is the colors (blue and red) and the fact that there’s both a huge X and a T/cross on the British flag.

Well, I now know what that symbol represents in TWD world. Reading about Marion and seeing the British flag on his Wikipedia page made it all make sense to me.

In short, Francis Marion, a.k.a. The Swamp Fox = Beth. She’s going to be the second-in-command general/guerilla warfare expert against the CRM. That’s why they had all that stuff in 5x09 when we saw her and heard her sing. The reason for the British flag is that Julia Ormond’s character = Cornwallis.

Read up on Francis Marion HERE.

(This is also why I said it’s important that in 5x09, they had Andrew Lincoln use is British accent for the radio broadcast. It’s meant to be from the point of view of the CRM, which symbolically represent the British in the template.)

So they’re using the American Revolution as a loose template for how the CRM war will go.

Back to Nathaneal Greene of Greene and Cornwallis? Yeah, same thing. Greene was George Washington’s direct under-general and right-hand man. Kind of like a…second or new sheriff? In the CRM war, George Washington = Rick and Nathaneal Greene = um, Greene (Beth).

More on Nathaneal Greene HERE.

But here’s the thing. None of that is going to happen until the spinoff. So why am I talking about it for S11? Well, it has to do with Charleston.

You can look this up on Wikipedia for more details, but Charleston was an event that was huge for Francis Marion. It was Charleston, South Carolina in that case. And it was a stronghold that the colonists were holding against the British. Then one day, the British attacked and took everyone there as prisoners of war. Marion WAS stationed there at the time, but he wasn’t there when the attack happened because he’d BROKEN HIS ANKLE in an accident and left the city to recuperate.

Okay. Anyone recognize Charleston in terms of Eugene or TWD world?

When talking to Stephanie over the radio, he got her to finally tell him where her settlement was. Any guesses? Charleston.

Now, in this case, it’s Charleston, West Virginia, but I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the writers went with the same name, even if it’s a different state.

So, here’s how I think it will play out.

I don’t think Stephanie’s group is actually the Commonwealth, or at least not the major, Commonwealth city everyone knows from the comic books. They DO have the white storm trooper guys, so I think they’re linked to the CW somehow. Like maybe they’re a branch of the CW in the same way Grady might have been an outlying branch—or at least in communication with—the CRM.

So again, maybe they’re PART of the CW, but they’re not living with the main group.

So, I think Eugene’s group will be taken to Charleston in S11 (that should happen next) and they will see Beth there. I have no idea if Eugene will recognize her or not. Given that we still don’t know what went down during the missing 17 days after Coda, and Eugene was hurt, we don’t know if he actually saw Beth at all or if he was out during that time. I’ve agonized over this a lot, but understanding this new template, I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t really matter. Maybe he’ll recognize her. Maybe he won’t. But either way, he’s not going to be in the same place with her for long.

I think soon after Charleston will be attacked. Now, historically, it was by the British, right? And because Julia Ormond’s character = Cornwallis, it’s got to be the CRM who attack Charleston. And we’ve seen them do this with other communities in TWB, so it makes sense.

But here’s where I had the S6 template wrong for a long time. Because CWD takes Denise, I thought a group would attack Stephanie’s community and take prisoners, and Beth would be taken with them, while Eugene and the others were left behind. 

But because of the Marion/Swamp Fox/Charleston thing, I think the opposite is true. Sounds like Eugene and co will be taken as prisoners by the CRM. Why did they do it the opposite way in S6? Because they couldn’t have had all the Alexandrians taken and Denise left behind. It just wouldn’t have worked for that S6 storyline. The point is mostly the separation. Eugene gets into a new place, briefly sees her, and then they’re separated.

So Charleston will be attacked and all the people (probably including Eugene, Yumiko, and Zeke) get captured by the CRM. If Beth is Marion, then she won’t be there when it happens.

I’m wondering if she’ll be out in the woods, hunting or getting supplies or something, and this is where she’ll step in the bear trap, injuring her ankle. That would fulfill all the bear trap symbolism around her, including Alone when she stepped in the small game trap. Just a guess on my part, but I think it’s highly likely.

Even if I’m wrong about that detail, I think she’ll be away from the Charleston community, just as Marion was, when the CRM captures the people there.

This is why it doesn’t really matter whether Eugene recognizes her or not. If he doesn’t, and they don’t realize they know the same people, she won’t know that Maggie and Daryl are (relatively) nearby. I think at this point she’ll go to try and rescue the people from the community who were captured (if she’s been with them for awhile, there are probably people there she cares about) and that’s how she’ll run into Rick and first cross paths with the CRM.

She and Daryl will meet down the road at a later date.

Even if Eugene DOES recognize her and she knows about TF, I still think she’s going to go try and rescue her friends before attempting to go to D.C. because they’re in more immediate danger and she’ll have some loyalty to them.

So, this is what I think we’ll see in S11. And I have no idea where it will cut off. Maybe the last thing we’ll see with Eugene in S11 is the fall of Charleston. Or maybe that will happen in episode 2. I really have no idea.

But I’m going to mention one other thing before I stop for today. I know this is getting wrong.

Who is Creepy Wolf Dude in this template? I mean, the wolves attacked Alexandria, so we could assume it’s just the CRM, and maybe a particular person in the CRM. Might be.

But rewatching 6x08, something caught my ear.

Morgan and Carol were arguing about whether or not to kill Creepy Wolf Dude, right? She keeps saying he needs to die. Morgan keeps saying no. And then we have a really interesting conversation.

Carol (talking about wolves): They made us kill. We had to stop it. I had to stop it.

Morgan: Where there’s life, there’s possibility. Even if we never let him out—

CWD: I’d get out.

Morgan (talking over him): Even if we never let him out, he could know what he’s done.

Who else killed and made TF kill? And rather than killing this person, they put him into a cell, vowing never to let him out. But he got out?

Negan! They’re basically talking about Negan’s fate after AOW here.

And guys, that’s CRAZY. I think CWD = Negan.

And I have more evidence for this.

In the TTD after 5x09, I remember that Nicotero was on it. And they were talking about how intrigued CWD was by Denise. I think it was Chris who said something like (and I paraphrase), “I guess it wouldn’t be right to say he fell in love with her or anything…”

And Nicotero corrected him and said CWD kinda did fall in love with Denise. Maybe not in a lifelong, deep, abiding love like we see with Bethyl/Glaggie/Richonne/Etc., but he’d never met anyone like her and he was intrigued by her. He fell in love with her as much as a killer like him could fall in love with someone.

Then, in 7x16, we had Sasha’s death. We went on and on about all the Beth symbolism around Sasha in that episode. It was ridiculous! Kind of like these bonus episodes had been. And Negan…kinda liked Sasha. I mean, I don’t think anyone would have described it as falling in love, but he liked and respected her. Said she had beach-ball-sized lady nuts and he truly respected her and was sad to see her die.

So I think these are both templates that point to what will happen next.

(BTW, Eugene was present for a LOT of Sasha’s final episodes.)

The main reason we always thought Beth would show up with the Saviors is because of the Negan (bat, actually) symbolism around her. But if she and Negan have a major arc together or interaction later on, all of that will suddenly make sense.

So again, I’m not sure if we’ll see this in S11 or if it will come later, but I think after Charleston falls, Negan and Beth will somehow meet (maybe he leaves the communities at some point) and have a lot of scenes and episodes together.

All right. I’ll stop there. Do I know any of this for certain? Of course not. As always, it’s subject to change. Especially the details. And the instant I see anything that changes my thinking or makes me realize I interpreted something wrong, I’ll let you know.

But my biggest point is that this really SHOULD be the next thing we see with Eugene’s group. Of course, this is TWD and it might still take us 8 or 10 or more episodes to get there as they have a lot of things to focus on S11. But it’s coming. And soon.

Remember that S11 is scheduled to start in June. So we don’t have long to wait. (Yay!)

Thoughts?

[wingsofprinces]

I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP.

Before she was Quake, before she was Inhuman, heck before she was Daisy Johnson -she was Skye. Her team, the family that chose her and never left her behind (no matter the time period or dimension), her home -begins and ends with Shield. Sousa gets that, he was there at its inception, so more than anyone we’ve ever paired her with, he stands apart. I acknowledge that Lincoln was a huge part of her growth. His sacrifice still weighs heavily on her conscience to this day. But is that what we really want her last experience to be associated with? You can call it the only healthy relationship she’s ever had, but let’s not forget about the tension and divide she experienced when it came to Daisy having to choose between her team and Inhumans. For better or for worse, their romance was just as stressful and at times toxic as any other pairing. Did it force her to re-evaluate herself and lead to personal growth? Yes. But did it also cause her to lose confidence and faith in others/herself? Also, yes.

We’re in our final season now and truth be told the only thing I want for her is a little bit of peace (which is why I’ve made amends with Steve’s ending as well). Sousa deserves that too. When we left off from Agent Carter’s second season (and I admit I was a Wilkes fan), Sousa was constantly questioning the right course of action, on top of his relationship with Peggy. And now that we know she has her alternative happy ending, is it so bad to wish Sousa could get the same?

On a more lighthearted note, there are so many parallels and it would be a true pity to pass up on them. Firstly, Steggy and Daisysous involve a badass woman ahead of her time (both facing their fair share of prejudices and hardships) and a justice-fueled man from the past (with principles that withstand the test of time). Secondly, both Peggy and Sousa end up with famed superheroes (in AoS S.5 we see that Quake has Avenger level status in terms of hero-worship *cough* psychopath Ruby *cough*) and neither treat them as such. In fact, they see them as equals, treating them as humans and partners worthy of fighting alongside.

And lastly, hasn’t she gone through enough? For those who say she needs to find happiness all on her own -did you forget that Daisy’s whole self-sacrificial and reckless nature comes from the fact that she’s only ever wanted to be loved??? And not just in the romantic sense. I mean she wants a sense of belonging; she wants stability. She wants to know that the happiness she’s found in the family she’s found, isn’t as fleeting as it was for Mary Sue Poots. To quote a previous comment I left, she’s gone through hell and back and god forbid she has someone to rely on. Sharing burdens is not a weakness, finding peace is not a crime. Daisy has always been a fighter in SPITE of all of the shit she’s gone through (shitty relationships or otherwise). She’s proved herself enough. She can be strong and independent AND not have to do it alone.

TLDR: Alexa play White Flag by Dido because I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP.

[skyeward-otp]

I think it's rude to have characters with good chemistry and so many parallels to not get together even her relationship with Lincoln is somewhat similar. Her and the real ward don't even get a proper send off or at least a shield free discussion.

PLEASE!

I was never into Linc*ln as a character or as the other half of the ship. I just...he felt a little too bland for me, maybe because i'm a diehard skyeward shipper (probably). But even just as himself as a character, i wasn't feeling him. I really wasn't buying the romantic chemistry between him and skye, either. I like to believe that she was still hung up on ward but trying not to be, so she goes into this new relationship and is trying to make herself be more into it than she is.

Her not having proper closure with the real Ward is my villain origin story. (not really, but maybe?)