Ok so while my compooter is being repaired, let's put some thoughts about Lauren aka mommy Mother Lauren.
As some of you have said before, it appears that Lauren was the owner of Strexcorp. Kevin was the founder of the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God. It is unclear when did Kevin changed into what he is now. On It Devours! it's implied that Kevin went to the DOW before the Strex arc on WTNV, met the Centipede, and founded the Congregation. I personally think that from then on, he was kind of like Jekyll and Hyde and he both wanted to keep his radio show and to dominate Desert Bluffs with a religious capitalist corporation so everyone would share his beliefs.
If that is the case, then Lauren helped him. And, when Strexcorp took over, they apparently co-managed it, along with all of Desert Bluffs. They struggled with power but still, Lauren was above Kevin.
After Night Vale made a revolution and both Kevin and Lauren got sent into the DOW, Kevin made his own town out of nothing. Or, well, he did after Carlos left. So it makes sense he would be above Lauren. And, being Lauren superior to him before, it makes sense that it was more tense between them.
Until all that Thing happened and Lauren got the frown tatoo and got banished from Desert Bluffs Too.
Imagine being first, the owner of a big company, then, of an entire city. Then that city conquered another and you were, legally, the owner of that city, too. Then it all is snitched from your hands. You lose it all and you're in a desert where you don't feel hunger or thirst, and there's this fucking lighthouse you can't get away from. You spend some time in that goddamned awful place until you notice that your former employee who you shared ownership of your company and everything you had before with, has founded a new town, but he won't share it with you. He's your boss now.
It would suck.
And then, from an order you received from him, you get mocked and hated by this new community. And while that bastard is happy building his adoration pit and being happy with his boyfriend, you're being tattooed a permanent frown on your face, losing whatever little power you got to recover and being banished from the new town.
I believe that, after all the traumatizing Experience of being thrown into the DOW, Lauren just wanted to be loved. To feel the sense of community she thought she felt before. But she wasn't loved. She then was hated and rejected. So, being that new society a religious one, a way of being loved could be through religion.
And so she became Mother Lauren. First, being the High Priestess — probably the equivalent of the Pope. She would have had to ascend slowly through different ranks to get to that point. So she built that image by herself, and she did that so other people would love her. To connect with others.
But now? Now it seems like Mother Lauren, apparently the counterpart of Huntokar, has possessed her like Huntokar did with Susan Willman.
And, it looks like Mother Lauren is the og Smiling God.
It's like. Huntokar said that while Night Vale used bloodstones to adore her, they didn't know it was she who they were adoring. In the same way, people from Desert Bluffs adored the Centipede without knowing it was Mother Lauren who they were really worshipping. And it makes sense. Total sense in fact. Because, after reading It Devours!, there was something that I couldn't sit with. Darryl & Co. continued worshipping the Smiling God, even after Carlos killed what they thought was the Smiling God, the Centipede. It made a bit of sense, because religion is about community and faith. That's why I also thought that you can't kill a god. Because belief in a deity is about faith. And, if the group shares the belief that it's not dead, then it's still alive.
The only ones that witnessed the burning of the Centipede were Nilanjana, Darryl & Co, so it wouldn't make sense that other worshipping sites believed in the death of their god: it should still be alive. Science can't kill a god. The only thing able to "kill" a god is another god, or another belief.
The Centipede was the manifestation of the Smiling God. Kind of like Jesus was the manifestation of God. In the last episode, I think I heard something about there being more existing centipedes (in It Devours!, the characters haven't seen another centipede). Again, kind of like Jesus was also a man, and there exist other human men.
All this to say that, based on the descriptions of the last episode, we know Lauren has lost control of herself. She's no longer Lauren Mallard. She's Mother Lauren. And, based on the descriptions of the last episode, Mother Lauren is becoming her manifestation. She's turning into a Centipede.
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woke up and someone spilled vanilla extract all over my dash, so as punishment you strange little beasties are getting all the VANILLA FACTS i know:
vanilla is the 2nd most expensive spice in the world (2nd to saffron)
which is why more than 99% of what we call "vanilla extract" is actually vanillin (vanilla's dominant flavor compound) and is not extracted from real vanilla.
luckily, even professionals struggle to tell the difference when it comes to things like baked goods. but there is a distinct difference in non-heat treated products like vanilla ice cream. real vanilla has a more complex, individualized flavor profile.
why is vanilla so expensive? because it is a ridiculously delicate & demanding crop. complete primadonna.
vanilla beans come from vanilla orchids. these crazy flowers bloom for A SINGLE DAY and have to be HAND-POLLINATED in a process that is exhausting, delicate, and requires specialist knowledge passed down over generations.
then, if you're lucky, you get vanilla beans.
which then require months of further specialized treatment.
the entire process takes about a year and can go wrong at any stage
vanilla has been cultivated for over 800 years (possibly much longer). the first known cultivators are the Totonac, an indigenous people of Mexico.
the Aztecs used it as a sweetener to balance out the bitter taste of cocoa. it was popular in a drink called xocolatl--the precursor to modern hot chocolate!
it is only pollinated by a very specific orchid bee!!!
which is why no fruit could be grown outside of Mexico until the 1800s
Edmond Albius, born into slavery, invented the pollination method we still use today--launching a global industry when he was just 12 years old.
today, the majority of the world's vanilla is grown in Madagascar
if you want real vanilla, read the labels carefully--it's harder to find than you think!
in conclusion, those tiny black specks you see in fancy vanilla ice cream? those are vanilla bean seeds! itty bitty orchid seeds!!! they are delicious and also a PRISSY BITCH!
(src)
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what's the threshold theory
There was a post about how Tom is the only crew member who isn't really affected by the Borg, and there's a theory that he has so much luck because he saw the past and the future when he crossed the transwarp threshold. He saw the past and the future, all of time and space. There's some subconscious part of him that remembers that experience. In fact, Tom refused to play a part in Chakotay indulging Annorax's temporal incursions, probably because a part of him knew nothing good could come of it.
If we extend that same theory to Janeway, some of her wild luck with time travel and other crack plans starts to make sense. She doesn't verbally hate time travel until after the events of Threshold, since it happens in Time and Again without complaint. Janeway has an uncanny knack for time travel, as evidenced every time she deals with it. She hates time travel, but it might be because part of her knows exactly how to manipulate the timeline. She manages to avoid the "inevitable" temporal explosion in Future's End, saving both Voyager and Braxton. She resets the entire timeline in Year of Hell, and no one else followed her reasoning. She pulled it off flawlessly. In Relativity, she senses the incidents are all related, despite it being just one reading that connects them. By the time she's involved, she has a temporal incursion factor of .0036 and a time travel protocol named after her, even if that may just be Braxton's personal grudge. Then there's Endgame, where she intentionally changes the timeline. Up until this point, she has been dragged into time travel, but for the first time, she jumps in on purpose. How does Admiral Janeway know how to get them home sooner in a way that completely avoids the Temporal Integrity Commission? It's because she has seen all of time, and part of her knows exactly what needs to happen so she can get Voyager home and do it in a way that becomes baked into the prime timeline. Maybe she doesn't consciously remember what happened during her transformation, but the experience lives in her mind somewhere, guiding her decisions.
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It’s a running joke in the manor that Tim’s kid was like a cat
And he would never admit that he could kind of see it himself.
The climbing, the ability to go from zero to a hundred in energy, and unfortunate ability to be too cute to actually get mad at him for anything he does.
Finding said son running out and about when there was breakout was pushing through.
“Hi Dad!!”
“Danny! What are you doing out here?!it’s still lockdown chickadee!”
Danny looked down at the ground and scuffed one of his shoe against the pavement.
“I know… but you’ve been gone so long and I’ve been worried!”
Tim sighed and tapped his comm,
“Oracle, please keep lookout for the next couple minutes.”
And crouched down in front of his son,
“You haven’t been home in a while and I missed you..”
Tim sighed as he wiped a tear from Danny’s face.
It was almost unfortunate how much the kid took after him.
“Kiddo I’m sorry, that’s my fault, I know we haven’t been able to hang out for the past week-“
Danny stomped a foot in frustration,
“No you don’t understand! You forget to sleep when you don’t come home ‘n’ great grandpa Alffie said we got to sleep because it’s good for you ‘n’ that when you don’t you are more likely to get hurt! I don’t want you hurt!”
Tim wanted to argue, and say that he was fine. He’s been taking cat naps between searching and the fights. If it was anyone else in his family he would’ve done so.
But this was his son, his little chickadee who loves so much and worries about himself so little.
He needs to set an precedent before bad habits emerge.
Picking Danny up, Tim set him down onto his hip and stuck his chin on his head.
“You’re right, I guess I haven’t been being nice to myself like I’m supposed to. How about we go back home and I’ll lay down with you for a couple hours?”
Danny peered up with glassy eyes,
“Can you stay for breakfast?”
And didn’t that just hurt to hear? Faded memories of asking that same question only to be given this almost pitying look danced in the back his mind.
“Sorry kiddo, but we just don’t have enough time before our flight but don’t worry when we get back we’ll have a family day, just the three of us!”
Clearing his throat Tim met his son’s eyes.
“Sure champ, and when we finally get joker back in Arkham we can ask everyone to have a family day, how does that sound?”
Stars almost seemed to take over Danny’s eyes as he let out a little gasp.
“Really?!”
“I promise.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, many of Danny’s mannerisms were reminiscent of a cat, but this was new.
Tim pinched his eyebrow in exasperation as he looked at his siblings.
He wished he never got up this morning.
“And how exactly did Danny somehow get a crowbar?”
The kid in question just happily swung his legs as he sat on the bench unaware that he himself was going to be getting a far longer conversation as soon as they got back to the manor.
“To be honest.. in hindsight, not my brightest moment.”
“WHY IN GODS NAME A CROWBAR?!”
“He said he needed something to help take care of the trash! I thought he would use it like a knapsack or something!”
Jason Thew his hands in the air, and Dick let out a snort while he nudged the mess of a clown next to him.
“Well he very much did use it for something.”
“Nightwing! I’m just as mad at you for somehow loosing the kid this badly to begin with!! You. Are. Not. Helping.”
“I know but I’m just saying, he gets his dramaticism from you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the end of the day, Joker ended up paralyzed from the neck down.
Jason and Dick were both no longer allowed to babysit Danny alone.
And one little munchkin was, though very much grounded, hailed a hero by all of Gotham for the actions that were live-streamed by onlookers.
And once he was no longer grounded, he did get his family day.
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