Ciconia & The Revelation of Saint Ioánnis
In this primal hallucinatory nightmare--I mean google doc--I will attempt to lay out the parallels between Ciconia and the Book of Revelation. Feel free to leave comments if you think of something (lol)
Thanks Tiger for supplying the screencaps and being absolutely galaxy brain with me.
07th Expansion Central Discord Server Admins Back At It Again
Introduction: The Book of Revelation
24 thrones / 24 elders / 4 angels of death
The Woman and the Dragon / The Holy Mother
Epilogue: Invitation and Warning
1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
Introduction: The Book of Revelation
The Revelation to John is the 27th and final book of the New Testament. Although it’s disputed which John wrote it, the author does identify himself as John--or Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs.
This book is the only apocalyptic document in the New Testament canon. It describes a series of prophetic visions foretelling the end of the world.
In Ciconia, the Book of Revelation is not part of the biblical canon; the New Testament only has 26 books. However, the document itself does exist, and has been secured by the Order of Prometheus. It is treated, in-universe, as a prophetic document.
Many events in Ciconia parallel those that transpire in the Revelation; however, because of the obscure imagery of the Book, it can be difficult to pin down; thus, to err on the side of caution, we’ll write down anything and everything, no matter how minor or reach-y it feels. Put on your tinfoil hats, it’s time to party!
“Prophecy”
The Book of Revelation is presented by John as a series of prophetic visions given to him by an angel acting as a messenger of Jesus.
The concept of “prophecy” comes up a lot as Ciconia introduces itself. If Dark Miyao doesn’t stop defining “prophecy” i will lose it.
Apocalypse
The Book is the only apocalyptic document in the New Testament. It describes the events that end the world, the actors within it, and culminates in the second coming of Jesus and new beginnings.
Obviously, the concept of instigating an apocalypse and reaching a brand-new beginning is important to Ciconia. The Book also talks about deathless paradise, where souls can be free of the pain of having a body. Transcending the pains of mortality and humanity are important concepts to both the Book and Ciconia.
The World Reset cult obviously plans to, uh, Reset World, bringing civilization back down to nothing and starting over. Their motives for doing so are currently unknown but whatever. All is in the name of guiding humanity down the right path.
Ciconia references the story of Noah sometimes, which is Another one about washing clean the slate and starting over with a fresh set of humans. However, the Book of Revelation being introduced as a literal object in the Ciconia canon really tips the scales in favor of Revelation as far as parallels go… :p
Speaking of this Noah thing, it seems the Book of Revelation might not be the only apocalyptic story being drawn upon; one could draw parallels to, for example, the story of Ragnarok--where, notably, a pair of humans survive to restart the world after the fall of the old (which includes fimbulvinter, “the mighty winter”, a world-freeze that kills everything that remains after the war is over).
But, again, since Revelation actually appears in the story, we chose to focus on that here. Oh, and Seshat says the prophecy is only like 80% ish accurate as far as she can tell, so I guess we can leave 20% comfortably un-explained (lol)
Because it was convenient for me, I used the NIV bible for this document. I think that’s all the preamble
Kizuna & Selcom
The Kizuna border text is 1:1 transposed runes; Book of Revelation 18:17-22 (top) and revelation 22:1-11 (bottom).
(Kizuna screens use a different version of the scripture and sometimes has errors, but it is recognizable as the same text, so I’m not too worried about the specifics lol)
There is a possible link between someone who knows Book 27 and the creator of Kizuna, or maybe just Aesthetic; unclear but big eyes emoji
---> Keropoyo does refer to a “Mistress”, implying that he also answers to someone
Keropoyo’s error screen: revelation 6, about the opening of the third seal (5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.)
The top/bottom Kizuna text doesn’t seem to necessarily mean anything, but it has been recorded here for reference. If you’re reading this in the future, you can probably skip to the next section.
In the game, the text is cut off, so the entire line can’t be seen--but the verses span this amount, so the whole text has been preserved.
Top Kizuna text
18:17 “Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. 18 When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ 19 They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:
“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!’ 20 “Rejoice over her, you heavens! Rejoice, you people of God! Rejoice, apostles and prophets! For God has judged her with the judgment she imposed on you.”
21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.
22 The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No worker of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.
Bottom Kizuna text
22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
6 The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”
7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”
10 Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near. 11 Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.”
24 thrones / 24 elders / 4 angels of death
There are 24 Gauntlet Knights sent to the fest from the 4 nations (LATO excluded!).
4:4: Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
The 24 Elders are representative of the redeemed humans which we will Come Back To In A Hot Minute. “Elder” in the text here means the head representing a nation, group, family, etc. Additionally, among the 24 Gauntlet Knights are 4 traitors.[a]
13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.
11:13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
4 living creatures
This section is entirely galaxy-brained and may be struck from the record at any time, but it was funny, so we wrote it down.
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever.
Combined with the 24 elders, and the Creatures calling them to worship, the 4 living creatures may represent the 4 nations (AOU, COU, ABN, ACR; again, LATO excluded).
The four living creatures each herald the arrival of a Horseman of the Apocalypse. The four horsemen are Conquest, War, Famine, and Death.
The Horsemen are given specific colors; a white horse[b], a red horse[c], a black horse, and a “pale horse” respectively. The “pale horse”--Death--is depicted as anything from green to yellow and dun, but also blue.[d]
Famine, heralded by the third creature, rides a black horse. In Ciconia, ABN is implicated in the devastating crop destruction that threatens to set off a world-wide famine.
Since links to the other nations are currently weak as Fuck, this whole section might get removed for being too tinfoil-hat, but for now, let’s just keep it around.[e]
(bass boosted) 7 Horns
6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb.
Seshat, under various spellings, was the ancient Egyptian goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing. She was seen as a scribe and record keeper, and her name means she who scrivens (i.e. she who is the scribe), and is credited with inventing writing. She also became identified as the goddess of accounting, architecture, astronomy, astrology, building, mathematics, and surveying.
In art, she was depicted as a woman with a seven-pointed emblem above her head. It is unclear what this emblem represents. This emblem is the origin of an alternate name for Seshat, Sefkhet-Abwy, which means "seven-horned".
--Wikipedia
ALSO IN CHARGE OF THE LIBRARY OPEN YR EYE S [f]
>once-slain
>invented writing
>she who is the scribe
>mistress of the house of books
>cool horns
This is a joke. Or is it?
The Glass Sea
4:6: Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
The Glass Sea becomes a deeply important location in the setting of Ciconia, and eventually, a contested piece of territory where battles unfold.
The initial oath--the Friendly Promise!!!--was sworn by the Gauntlet Knights while gazing upon the Glass Sea.
15 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. 2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God 3 and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:
The 7 seals / the 7 trumpets
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.
6:12: I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.[g][h] 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”
7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3“Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
Four angels, at each corner of the world, told not to harm it--the four Masters of the Public Bath Order? Thinking emoji but big?? Wow the obsession with the number 4 is a real Japanese Bilingual Bonus isn’t it
7:16: “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat.”
8:7: The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
Wormwood
8:8: The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
8:10: The third angel sounded his trumpet and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water—11 the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
The corruption of drinking water is a necessary part of any good apocalyptic plague! In Ciconia, everyone was pretty relieved to find the Massive Falling Objects From Space would neatly avoid any major landmasses, instead landing nicely in the sea. Wait, whoops.
Starting by killing the sea, and eventually, contaminating the drinking water.
8:12[i]: The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.
18 The nations were angry, and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small—and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.
The Abyss
“The Abyss” mentioned in the prophecy may be connected to Vier’s Fun Underground Adventure Lab, specifically the deepest part where the Thousand Year Door sits (just chillen).
9 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.
2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss[j]. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.[k]
The Thousand Years
20 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
Those who came to life--First Resurrection--maybe cool blue people? Seems to be some kind of transcended-humanity state. Also, some of them have weird superficial similarities to Gauntlet Knights we know. Add to this the weird blue body miyao and jaydens i guess.
Also add to it that at the very end of Phase One, Lingji is seen equipping a golden gauntlet identical to the one used by the Cool Blue Lab Girls. Hm. Listen I don’t know how to connect this just yet but I can’t stop thinking about the souls of those who were >beheaded for their testimony and were resurrected to reign for a thousa nd y e ar s . . . .. .
Anyway, Vier’s Abyss seems to act as some kind of afterlife/place of undeath, hence my obsession with Blue Girls Who Aren’t Human and also all of the weirdly undying inhabitants (apparently including Vier herself??)
The Woman and the Dragon / The Holy Mother
12 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
The Woman of the Apocalypse is often identified as a representation either of the Church itself or as the Virgin Mary. In modern Catholicism, the Virgin Mary is considered as both Mother of God and Mother of the Church. So...I guess either way works, really?
Anyway, the concept of motherhood and birth is oft-discussed in Ciconia.
Come to mass next Sunday to hear my conspiracy theory about Vier being Miyao’s mom and “a place prepared for her by God” is a fun underground lab for excellent science adventures. That’s not what this document is about though so you’re free to go for now. but if you ever feel safe please remember I’m out there
The Harvest
14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
Regarding the wine press… I feel like I could either link it to the machinery scenes, or a bit esoterically to Jestress’ “drinking the blood of billions” comment….? It’s not necessarily important, but it is neat.
15 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. 2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God 3 and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:
The Seven Bowls
16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”
2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
NOTE: The “good” sign was also placed upon the forehead of the 144,000 who have been redeemed from the earth. Unsure how to interpret this placement of the rash being specifically the forehead, but I guess that’s allowed! Thought it was interesting, given the Good Guys here mentioning it.
(The mark of the beast was placed on either the head or the hand.)
3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One, you who are and who were; 6 for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”
7 And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.”
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. 13 Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
15 “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”[l][m]
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21 From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
The Song
14 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
The Heavenly Warrior
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
king of kings and lord of lords.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”
19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
The rider is actually Jesus returning to the Earth I’m pretty sure! but the entire “coming out of his mouth is a sword with which to strike down the nations” really just makes you think of ruling with words and ideology, doesn’t it? Eeeh…. Haha, hold on, we linked Dark Miyao to the delivering of jesus’s prophecy earlier, and now miyao to jesus again. Return Of Jesus 2: The Jesusing
A New Heaven and a New Earth
21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Epilogue: Invitation and Warning
12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
Miscellaneous
---At the very beginning of Ciconia, there’s a mention of the Super Tokyo Tower, 666 meters tall. Famously, “666” is the number supposedly identified as the mark of the beast in the book of Revelation.
16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
---(lol)
---While the English word “apocalypse” has taken on a more generic meaning--in modern English, we often understand it to mean a cataclysm or doomsday, of any kind--it’s originally directly referring to the events described in the Book of Revelation. The source word means “revelation”. The word--apocalypsis.
---Ciconia makes frequent use of “angel feathers”, associated with the movement of Gauntlet Knights.
Stuff I didnt try yet:
-the 7 churches[p]
-the two witnesses (this feels important[q][r][s]?)[t]
-the beast itself (lololol)
-babylon or whatever. She rules but i have no idea what to even do with it.
-ALTHOUGH one of the kizuna borders does use threefold woe over babylon’s fall/the finality of babylon’s doom, for some reason
-the 7 kings (5 fallen, one is, one is yet to come; the 8th beast-king going to his destruction)
-ALTHOUGH Miyao does mention at the initial forming of the Order that he wants to initiate a 7th person[u] into the core inner circle?
-correction: like everybody wants this for some reason
why would it be cooler what the rfuck does this mean[v]
Anyway, trans rights!
[a]"if there's one in each group, that means four of our pieces have been inserted.." the minimum number of traitors is 4 but there could be more
[b]2 Therefore I beheld, and lo, there was a white horse, and he that sat on him, had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering that he might overcome.
If you think of a bow as something *shaped* like a bow, then you can say the first horse is probaly AOU. The yellow curvature in AOU's flag is the "bow" and the "crown" is a laurel wreath.
[c]4 And there went out another horse, that was red, and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another, and there was given unto him a great sword.
COU always mention in Ciconia that they will unsheat the 'sword of peace' -- or 'sword of justice' -- I can't remember correctly right now. COU is the most violent faction of the four, so I think it's solid to say they're the red horse.
[d]The two JP Bible translations I checked (Japanese Living Bible and New Interconfessional Version) both describe Death's horse as 青ざめた, which means "pale" in the sense of a corpse and is derived from the kanji for "blue". If Ryukishi is using a Japanese version of the Bible as a reference this might explain the choice of color.
[e]I'd personally vote for it staying; it's very much possible that we will see the other factions acting out their horsemen roles in the other phases- 4 Phases, 4 Horsemen. It could very well happen that in each phase, a different faction unleashes a different kind of disaster!
[f]monster in an abyss that suprassed human knowledge was used at some point to describe Seshat not completely sure. its after the 2 lato girls lost their memories
[g]I think it was mentioned that during the drone (?) attack everybody was hiding inside anyways, so there weren't as many casualties?
[h]yes!!
[i]This could represent the smog maybe?
[j]disrupting the 8MS
[k]I feel like this will also apply to the guy who made that Immortality 8MS. Maybe in later Phases it will spread throughout the world?
[l]i think i highlighted this because chloe said something similar but i honestly don't remember anymore. i only noticed she said it because my umi brain was like "not this again" SDKJDJ
[m]She said that humans can not live without clothes. She was talking with Miyao about humans really remaining humans even if they depend on Selcoms.
[n]This odd garb could instead be a reference to Rev 15:6 "Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests."
[o]for sure! it feels like a lot of things are crossing and looping and potentially referencing multiple things at the same time. this image was put here bc of the Veil Thing that reminded us of a bride, but absolutely agreed on 15:6 as well!!
[p]Might not be relevant, but those 7 churches mentioned on the bible are on Turkey. We have Fatma, she's from Turkey and it's mentioned she received missionary training.
[q]I know nothing about the book of revelation but when you mention 2 witnesses, this makes me think of the 2 gauntlet knights from LATO. They've acted both as referees/witnesses for the initial tournament, and then later as witnesses but not members for the order of the bath.
[r]this is woke. Will examine this after I sleep!! Thank you!!
[s]Adding on to this "two witnesses" theory, if we bring in Bern and Lambda, then they could be witnessing the gameboard through Valentina and Marica.
[t]I feel like the two witnesses are Valentina and Maricarmen
[u]wasn't the seventh member of the inner circle designated to be Keropoyo?
[v]Apologies if this was already mentioned elsewhere, but 7 is often interpreted as the number of God or of completeness, whereas 6 is of imperfection.