talk abt itoa lore + patricks backstory + how the universe works!! would u consider writing a sequel? (also i know i haven’t sent u the #thoughts yet exams have been a bitch)
ok em!! but i WANT the #thoughts so bad
ok so the lore that jasmin @pmvstump and i we’re talking about is that patrick is one of many angels sent by Them to watch over humans on Earth. each of these angels, also called seraphs, has a purpose and must figure out what that purpose is. once they do, they will start to age like a human and eventually die and return to heaven. this means patrick looked about 18-20 for most of his existence, and was never a baby.
you’ll notice patrick mentions his purpose multiple times (i think in chapter 5,6, and 7). basically what he’s talking about there is that the angels typically create massive change in the world to better humanity, and they often become great leaders and beacons of hope. i’m not going to explicitly mention who other angels have been throughout history, but i’m sure you can probably come up with at least a couple.
the angels also have to abide by the seraphic code, which patrick breaks when he *SPOILER ALERT* kisses Joe. angels are not allowed to fall in love with humans, as it is seen as a distraction from their purpose. let it be noted that in this universe, patrick (or any other seraph) would not be punished for being LGBT, but would be punished for falling in love with a human.
in terms of patrick’s backstory, he came into existence when time did. he was named זמר, מביא אור originally, which is a callback to my jewish heritage, since both jasmin and i wanted to incorporate our respective cultures [jasmin is sikh, i’m jewish]. His name in hebrew roughly translates to “musician, bringer of light”, which foreshadows his destiny. i guess you’d only have gotten that if you spoke hebrew, or at least knew how to use google translate!
at one point in the story, patrick worries over having to go back to his “old job” as punishment for his actions. this job (although we never mention it) was memory extraction. when humans die and enter heaven, patrick was once in charge of removing all their negative memories from their brain and storing them externally. this is why heaven is seen as such a wonderful place, since only positive memories can remain in spirits. as a result of his job, though, patrick saw many horrific events that good people had to go through. this is part of the reason he is so compassionate and caring towards everyone he meets.
being a seraph, which is an angel sent to earth to help humanity, is a high honor, and patrick was surprised to receive it around 1000 CE. he had many names, dependent of course upon the popular names of the time period and region in which he lived. Patrick Stumph was the name he adopted when he first moved to Chicago. As we know, he dropped the “h” soon after Fall Out Boy took off so that people would pronounce his name correctly.
From the epilogue of ITOA, we know some things about Patrick and Joe’s future. I’d like to leave it up to you to determine what became of their romantic relationship, but they obviously remained close.
In terms of a sequel, I’m not sure that we would ever want to (or have time to!) write one. I’m going to college next year, so I’m going to have a lot on my plate, as is Jasmin. Personally, I don’t like it when stories drag on too long because they often get repetitive and boring (looking at you, Once Upon A Time). With that said, I can’t say for certain that we’ll never write anything about this AU again. In the words of Mr. Stump, I would only want to write a sequel if we had something important to say.
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