maXmayo @maxmayo11 - Tumblr Blog

Warrior Nun’s Fan Fiction Book Club pick:

@littledata - The Devil’s Daughter

As I read through the first time around, I was taken aback by how intricately crafted the story is. From the very beginning, we are placed into a state of complete helplessness alongside Ava. “Ava’s mother is frightened and so Ava decides she’s frightened too,” This first sentence captivated me then and continues to captivate me now. How so little was expressed, and yet, the moment you read it, you’re that seven-year-old too: afraid of the unknown, afraid of death.

The first time I ever read littledata’s one-shot, it was nighttime in the dead of a rainy winter. I was on my yellow reading chair with at least three blankets on top of me. I could not put it down. The longer I read, the more I mourned, for I knew that I would never have enough. It’s the kind of story you never want to end.

"It is a huge house, taller than it is wide, all weathered brickwork and dramatic turrets. It’s ugly though, she thinks - there are too many chimneys and windows and it’s confusing to look at, the eye doesn’t know quite where to land. Wikipedia told her it was built in 1863, although she didn’t truly appreciate what that meant until now: it has the presence of something old, settled into the hillside as if it were always there. As the road levels out and she drives towards the wide entrance, she has the impression that it’s waiting for something."

The writing style has a way of worming its way into your heart, a complete masterpiece of storytelling. Descriptions that leap from the page, exquisitely building the world and the characters around you. Its atmosphere alone is able to convey the themes of death, regret, longing and love.

One of my absolute favourite parts of the story are the full-circle moments, especially when this question gets answered:

“She wanted you so badly even though she knew she would only be with you for a little while. Does that make you feel special or does it make you feel angry?”

“I’m furious with you,” Beatrice tells her.

“I know,” Ava says, “But I’m not sorry.”

What I wouldn’t give for just another few moments of Ava and Beatrice together outside of the house. Yet, in the closing words, I am comforted because they loved and will continue to love.

"Oh." Beatrice reaches up to cup her cheek. "I missed you."

Ava turns her head and presses a kiss to the centre of her palm. "I'm here now. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes." Beatrice smiles up at her. "I think it's time."

maxmayo11

Beautifully said!!! I'm actually so obsessed with this fic i fear i will look for it everywhere i go (like ava looking for the shadow guy)

alms4oblivion

Drizzle, love what you did with the photos.

I love this fic so much, top to bottom, but I think I want to start by talking about the way the story is structured. This story does something that is not always easy to do, in that it sets up two parallel and apparently unrelated supernatural aspects to the setting and does it in a way that doesn't feel like it's asking for too much in terms of suspension of disbelief. That's not easy! Unless you're running a "kitchen sink" setting where "all" the stories are true so anything could get thrown in at any time, I think people usually have a hard time with more than one major supernatural phenomenon.

This story succeeds at doing so beautifully, and I think that's a result of pure writing skill. We get the "devil" introduced right away, but then backgrounded. He's always in Ava's mind, but he's not present, which lets the "ghost" side of the story take the lead as The Supernatural Thing. BUT. The devil's never really gone. And throughout the story, we get reminders of him, many of them small, but three crucial moments: the Jillian introduction (other people have interacted with the devil); the Jillian rumor (this is what the devil does); and the crossroads (this is where you make a deal). All of these set the stage for the climax of the story in a way that ties the two supernatural threads together in a way that feels not just natural, but inevitable in context. There's no gotcha moments that surprise the reader with "you thought it was a story about X, but it's actually about Y too!" Everything is established early and developed steadily in a purposeful way where we learn exactly what we need in order to follow the threads to the conclusion.

The ghost story aspect is just as good, so much care taken to slowly establish the stakes. From the very beginning, Ava is there to get the house ready to be sold, and the slow drip of learning about Beatrice, how she exists and moves through this world, establishes how horrifying that will be for Beatrice. There was a slow horror to it all as a reader, "wait, so when the house gets sold...she won't...oh fuck." I also like how naturally the "rules" are established, the trial and error of it all, the way unknown dangers are established and hinted at. No one in this story has all the answers, and we won't get them either, because this is not a story about answers. It's a story about choices.

What would you sacrifice for someone you loved? What if what you had to sacrifice was yourself? What if they loved you back, so it wasn't only your sacrifice? How would you feel? How would they? If you knew how much it would hurt them, would you make a different choice? Such a huge density of feeling and gravity in relatively few words.

And this story resonates so powerfully with Avatrice. The choice at the end, Beatrice getting to live her life finally, knowing they'll be together after everything...I'm swooning. It's so, so, so good.

drizzleoftherain

Warrior Nun’s Fan Fiction Book Club pick:

@littledata - The Devil’s Daughter

As I read through the first time around, I was taken aback by how intricately crafted the story is. From the very beginning, we are placed into a state of complete helplessness alongside Ava. “Ava’s mother is frightened and so Ava decides she’s frightened too,” This first sentence captivated me then and continues to captivate me now. How so little was expressed, and yet, the moment you read it, you’re that seven-year-old too: afraid of the unknown, afraid of death.

The first time I ever read littledata’s one-shot, it was nighttime in the dead of a rainy winter. I was on my yellow reading chair with at least three blankets on top of me. I could not put it down. The longer I read, the more I mourned, for I knew that I would never have enough. It’s the kind of story you never want to end.

"It is a huge house, taller than it is wide, all weathered brickwork and dramatic turrets. It’s ugly though, she thinks - there are too many chimneys and windows and it’s confusing to look at, the eye doesn’t know quite where to land. Wikipedia told her it was built in 1863, although she didn’t truly appreciate what that meant until now: it has the presence of something old, settled into the hillside as if it were always there. As the road levels out and she drives towards the wide entrance, she has the impression that it’s waiting for something."

The writing style has a way of worming its way into your heart, a complete masterpiece of storytelling. Descriptions that leap from the page, exquisitely building the world and the characters around you. Its atmosphere alone is able to convey the themes of death, regret, longing and love.

One of my absolute favourite parts of the story are the full-circle moments, especially when this question gets answered:

“She wanted you so badly even though she knew she would only be with you for a little while. Does that make you feel special or does it make you feel angry?”

“I’m furious with you,” Beatrice tells her.

“I know,” Ava says, “But I’m not sorry.”

What I wouldn’t give for just another few moments of Ava and Beatrice together outside of the house. Yet, in the closing words, I am comforted because they loved and will continue to love.

"Oh." Beatrice reaches up to cup her cheek. "I missed you."

Ava turns her head and presses a kiss to the centre of her palm. "I'm here now. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes." Beatrice smiles up at her. "I think it's time."

maxmayo11

Beautifully said!!! I'm actually so obsessed with this fic i fear i will look for it everywhere i go (like ava looking for the shadow guy)

#thedevilsdaughter #warrior nun #avatrice

alms4oblivion

Warrior Nun Rewatch - S1E3

Lot of good material in this episode. Major character development for Ava, some often overlooked Beatrice backstory, a major lore point that I think is a flat out lie, and more:

maxmayo11

Mmmm LOVE how this analysis latches onto the whole "this is a lie, and here's why" LOVE THIS ANALYSIS ALMS. Also this line: "If Lilith and Superion weren't so dead set, for their own reasons, on proving that Ava is unworthy, I think she might actually have stayed." I completely agree!! Ava was almost into the whole church thing before she meets them. Amazing analysis!

Warrior Nun S1E4 Visuals

Colour palette.

Okay, I think this episode doesn’t have many visuals that I can yap about without sounding like a broken record. Since this is just for fun, I think it’s fine if I merge all the categories into one post.

We’re definitely starting with the colour palette because hello??? Girly is leaving the church, so we're bound to see some colours following her around.

Anyways, right at the start of the episode, we see Ava leaving the warm palette and heading into an alley filled in colder tones. Unlike the previous episodes—where the cold palette follows Ava around—this episode, we get to see the warm palette following her instead.

And since we already know what these colours represent in the show, we know now that it's the Church following Ava.

We then see the warm palette quickly catch up to her, enveloping her completely before she comes face-to-face with the very thing that inevitably connects her back to the Church—the Wraith.

At this point, running from the warm palette seems like a futile effort. The halo is bound to the church, and Ava is bound to the Halo.

And Ava knows this, because no matter how hard she tries to get away from all these demons and God shit, she will always be chased by it.

Which is why, here, we get to see Ava standing between both palettes.

At this point, she have tried both leaving and walking toward each palette. Neither of them offers her freedom.

Also worth noting: all of this internal conflict is shown through front-view shots of Ava.

Which now brings us to our Shots discussion for the episode.

Shots.

Unlike the previous episodes, where we got a lot of front-view shots whenever Ava was thinking or making decisions, this episode gives us far more rear-view shots. But they aren't used to show us her internal thought process. Instead, they’re there to show us just how isolated she is from the world, and just how overwhelming the consequences of her choices are. In her pursuit of freedom, there’s no one there to help her see, feel, or even decide what to do next.

Which is why these rear-view shots are framed in wide angles instead of the close-up rear shots we used to get for her.

Honourable mentions for these shots:

Normally, after a rear-view shot, we'd get one of those big, momentous front-facing shots of Ava. But this time, all we get is this expression—full of uncertainty about where she's supposed to go next. (Amen to Alba and her phenomenal acting.)

Both of these scenes are then followed by JC entering her line of sight. Which is why he becomes someone Ava trusts so quickly in her new life. I mean... he saved her from drowning, he was kind to her, and he was simply there whenever she needed someone—or something—to hold onto. By most standards, what JC did was the bare minimum. But to someone who's spent her entire life believing she wasn't even worthy of the bare minimum, it meant everything.

The scene where Ava is figuring out what to wear with Chanel was also brilliantly done. I won't elaborate, though, because Drizzle already talked about it in her post.

So instead, we're going to move on to another set of important shots, which brings us to the next section of the yappa yappa.

Here, we get these closer rear-view shots of Ava, signifying that either the Halo—or Ava herself—is telling her to turn back and settle things properly.

Again, Alba’s acting here is immaculate. Because look at how this expression doesn’t look like a “Oh what do I do now” like the previous ones. This one looks more like a “Oh shit, I have to do this.”

Blocking.

As for blocking, there is one really cool piece of blocking involving the OCS that Drizzle already clocked in her post. I see you, @drizzleoftherain

There's also a really interesting discussion to be had regarding Diego and his whereabouts after Ava saves him from Sister Frances. Diego says, "I'll see you in Heaven," which suggests that the next time he sees Ava, he'll already be dead.

I know there are theories saying Ava arrived too late—that Diego had already died before she got there. While I think those are perfectly valid interpretations, I personally can't agree with them for a couple of reasons; The syringe was still full when Ava fought Frances, and I don't think the show has established that Warrior Nun can see dead people. But hey—to each their own!

We then see Diego running towards a statue of God. This is an open ending for Diego’s story. He could’ve run towards God for safety. Or he could've been running toward God because he knew his death was imminent. Either way, it's a place where he believes he'll see Ava again.

Ava’s rear view shots were shown again as she walks out of the orphanage. And it’s the same rear view shot as the one we get before Ava realises she needed to save Diego.

Only this time we get to see poor Ava coming to terms with who she is now and what she can’t run away from.

And that’s it for EP4.

Thank you for reading! Please go check out Drizzle's rant on her pages. As always, her takes are absolutely brilliant.

#warrior nun #episode #rewatch #drizzlerantsmaxyap

alms4oblivion

Warrior Nun Rewatch - S1E3

Lot of good material in this episode. Major character development for Ava, some often overlooked Beatrice backstory, a major lore point that I think is a flat out lie, and more:

softavasilva

KRISTINA TONTERI-YOUNG as SISTER BEATRICE Warrior Nun 2.01 | Galatians 6:4-5

alms4oblivion

Warrior Nun Fan Fiction Book Club!

From @maxmayo11 and @drizzleoftherain (and I'm here too), a little something fun for anyone looking to scratch the Warrior Nun itch and to show some love to some of the brilliant authors who have written for the Warrior Nun fandom:

If you're interested, the link to the fic is below!

the devil's daughter - Chapter 1 - littledata - Warrior Nun (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Warrior Nun (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Sister Beatrice/Ava Silva Characters: Sister Beatrice (Warrior Nun), Ava Silva Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Horror, Horror, ghost story, Bittersweet, Period-Typical Homophobia Summary: Ava has lived in many different places in her life. She has met a lot of different people, has friends littered across continents, and has seen more odd things than the average person might. As far as she knows, this is the first time she has met a ghost. It is certainly the first time she has met a beautiful ghost.

alms4oblivion

Warrior Nun Rewatch - S1E2

Yeah, I'm behind, but I'm still doing this! Focusing, as I tend to, on subtle moments that are easily overlooked, underappreciated lore drops, and character development that I'm seeing in a new light this time around.

Lilith and Beatrice

I feel like I'm going to come back to this in future analyses, these two have a LOT going on in the early going that doesn't come through as clearly because their development doesn't have a ton of time to breathe.

First of all, Lilith's introduction as "next in line" is set up to frame her as selfish and antagonistic, as her hungry for the Halo's power and the prestige that comes with it perhaps, but it's notable that this is also a death sentence. Her family sent her to the Church as a sacrifice. All of her fighting here is for the chance to be next to die. She is such an excellent foil for Ava, with an almost completely inverse character arc. She starts off the show trying to sacrifice her life for what she believes to be a righteous cause, and ends it wanting freedom while circumstances conspire to force her to fight.

Also interesting to see the dynamic between Lilith and Beatrice here, with Beatrice as the conciliator between Lilith and Mary, but nonetheless clearly in the deferential role to Lilith (something that will change starting in the very next episode). When Mary is telling Vincent about the armor piercing rounds the mercenaries used, Lilith is locked in on the conversation; Beatrice is back and forth between Mary and watching Lilith to see how she reacts.

Beatrice, as conciliatory as she is within the OCS, is ruthless as hell towards those outside of it. For all that Lilith gets heat for being willing to rip the Halo out of Ava, Beatrice is pretty clearly in favor of recovering the Halo even if it kills Ava, and is surprised when Vincent suggests that he might actually let Ava keep it. Beatrice is more soft-spoken, and doesn't smile when she hurts people, but she and Lilith are on the same page ethically at this point in time, even if Beatrice is more open to other possibilities. Major point to remember for the next episode, when she and Lilith sharply diverge in their views.

Mary is John Wick

This episode really presents Mary as a true second protagonist, and the person who is most responsible for pushing the story forward in the foreground while Ava wanders through her second chance at life. Beatrice and Lilith are both presented as highly intelligent and experienced, but neither one of them sees what Mary sees. In pursuit of revenge over her dead wife (sort of), she is ruthless, unstoppable, and a step ahead of every other person in the show except the real bad guys.

Vincent expressly talks to Mary as though she is the OCS' real secret weapon, the one who does what needs to be done, who more or less operates outside the usual hierarchy of the Church. And what a rich life she is leading outside that hierarchy. She knows exactly where to go for custom ammunition, and is on good enough terms with the guy that she can get him to betray the confidence of another client. She tracks that guy down and tortures him in an alley. She is the only person who can trivially talk down to Lilith and get away with it. And despite the fact that she never trains in hand-to-hand combat, we know from later in the season (when she fights Lilith) that she's actually in contention for "best hand-to-hand fighter in the show," with Beatrice as the other possible candidate.

A never-used piece of Mary lore: we all know that Mary's mom is in jail for killing her dad, but I don't think I clocked until this rewatch that when she was eight she watched someone (I'm guessing her dad) kill someone with a knife by slicing the victim's brachial artery.

Tarask Lore!

Vincent knows a suspicious amount about tarasks here, but this scene is interesting mostly for how much misinformation it contains. "A higher order demon hasn't been seen in over a century" is Beatrice's gut reaction to this, "from the ancient texts" is Camila's response, but the reality is framed differently later. Notably, neither Camila nor Beatrice appear to be in a position to know how or why Warrior Nuns die, as neither was present in a later episode's flashback to the Warrior Nun before Shannon. Divinium is barely known outside the church, and Jillian, the most knowledgable person about divinium outside of the church, has no clue what a Halobearer is or what their powers are. This suggests that either the church is secretly executing its own Warrior Nuns, or that tarasks kill Warrior Nuns much more frequently than is widely known among the OCS. Beatrice's research, which indicates that the tarask "inevitably" tracks down the Halobearer, seems to suggest the latter.

This also suggests some interesting things about Reya and the Halo. First of all, if the tarasks are so inevitably successful at hunting down and killing Halobearers, why is the Halo still on Earth? Why hasn't Reya taken it back? The only answer that makes sense to me is that the Halo is more useful to Reya on Earth than in her possession. I expanded on the reasons I think this is likely the case in my fic In The Eyes Of A Child, but I think this is a major point of lore ambiguity where fan fic writers can play, but not a lot (that I have seen) have.

Small Moments

Underused JC lore: lost his mom recently, point of commonality with Ava.

Michael comes to look for Ava shortly after she encounters the divinium shield, wonder if Adriel sent him.

I LOVE this meet cute. Drugged and kidnapped. Right from the beginning, Avatrice are low-key toxic, but they're so cute and loving that it gets overlooked, because they don't FEEL toxic.

That's all for me for this episode! Please go read @drizzleoftherain's and @maxmayo11's analyses, they're ahead of me and have very different, and wonderfully thought-provoking, focuses!

drizzleoftherain

EPISODE 4: Ecclesiasticus 26:9-10

The whoredom of a woman may be known in her haughty looks and eyelids. If thy daughter be shameless, keep her in straitly, lest she abuse herself through overmuch liberty.

“‘I wanna live’. That’s God’s honest truth.”

We begin the episode with Ava embracing her freedom—embracing her life without the command of the people around her. She almost makes it to certain freedom but deep in her core she’s morally sound and compassionate, so she watches and follows as a man pursues an unsuspecting victim. It could be argued that she sees the trail of a wraith, therefore, is more conscious of what could happen but given that Ava is quick to voice her distaste of any injustice she would have followed regardless of the halo’s abilities. If you pay close attention the wraith trails after the girl meaning she is the one about to do the evil deed and not the man.

“See what you get for being a hero,” Ava says after meddling. It’s interesting to speculate what must be going through her mind. She needs guidance but she doesn’t want to be controlled. She wants to live but can come back to life. She has morals but has no actual belief system, be it in or outside of the church’s influence. “I’m not lost, just taking the scenic route,” she later voices before the ocean, returning to that need for peace.

Ava is divided by every choice she makes because she has no purpose and nothing to work towards. She is constantly paralised by choice and of course it doesn’t help that everyone has been making choices for her her entire life.

“So, Romeo finds his Rosaline.” Damn Chanel doom the relationship before it starts why don’t cha. “You know, this sad dope’s been going on and on about you since you disappea—” Chanel is making fun of JC here by making a reference to Romeo and Juliet. She doesn’t call Ava Juliet, no, she calls her Rosaline, Romeo’s one-sided romance. Like Romeo in the play, JC is merely infatuated with the juvenile idea of wanting to be in love rather than being in love. He is attracted to Ava’s physical beauty not her personality or character.

Duretti speaks to both Lilith and Beatrice as the season goes on. He uses what he knows of them to get them to fall in line and align with the church’s needs—coughhisneedscough—. Vincent will not accept his presence as easily as Mother Superion and by working behind their backs he allows the viewers to grow suspicious of him. In the previous recap I brought up that Beatrice is the antithesis to Lilith and in this episode it is further solidified by their reaction to Duretti’s request.

Lilith is ashamed that she isn’t able to continue her family’s legacy who have served the order since the 1,500’s. To put that into perspective, Henry the VIII was the king of England and through him various reformations of the church occurred. One of them was the complete split from the Catholic Church. “Providing six Halo Bearers. An impressive lineage. It must have been hard on you, that legacy. Those expectations,” he continues to demoralise her and she cowers in shame, unable to meet his eyes. Duretti is aware of what would take for Lilith to do his bidding. He absolves her on the spot of all sin so long as she is successful in retrieving the halo, no matter the cost. And then he ties it up with a beautiful bow by giving her what she desires the most, the halo. Worth noting that Lilith is framed with her back to Cat’s Cradle @maxmayo11 I see you, I see you!

Camila is thrown into an interesting spot between her two friends. She voices her concern over Duretti’s command, how exposing the sect by infiltrating a private business is incorrect. It’s used as a narrative device so that both Lilith and Beatrice spar over what it means to do the church’s ‘business’. Lilith is impatient like Camila but her impatience stems from the opposing views clashing with her own. Beatrice is hyperaware of Lilith’s fallacies and isn’t afraid to subtly let her know it.

B: “We could expose our sect, and for what?”

L: “For the protection of our interests.”

B: “Which interests, Lilith?”

When Ava leaves to help Diego, it is a call back to her wanting to help the girl in the beginning of the episode. She’s the only one that can save him, she’s the hero he needs. The choice here is clear to her, she thrusts the decision of their escape to JC and makes the true defining decision for herself. We then hear over the walky-talkie that Ava is headed towards the orphanage, something that Lilith fully takes advantage of. Instead of helping her allies she shows her own selfish desire, therefore proving Beatrice right. It’s Lilith’s interests, not the sects. Unlike Lilith, Beatrice is a natural leader, encouraging her team and placing herself in various difficult positions for the benefit of their mission. In later episodes, it is unsurprising when Duretti attempts to persuade her with the halo after his disappointment in Lilith but Beatrice has nothing to prove to anyone or herself by having it and once again calls the person out on their selfish desires.

The ending of the episode addresses one of Ava’s internal frustrations. As she spoke to Chanel earlier she said this, “My problem is that I’ve never had the chance to pick out my own clothes. To find my own style, discover who I really am,” where clothing is used as a means to express her lack of control and lack of choice to Chanel. “How do you choose who you are?” Ava asks before Chanel kindly explains that clothing doesn’t define you but projects what is already inside for all the world to see. Ava embracing herself and projecting that to the world by dawning the Warrior Nun’s halo.

“Let’s find you.”

gold-dust-angel

Current hobby: collecting Warrior Nun art that references the Pietà

Here we go!!

1. Art by @mpliego

2. Art by @sketchbook626

3. Art by @catskullery

4. Art by @corvophobia

bonus: the actual scene that referenced the Pietà

Part 2 of S1E3 yappa yappa.

Colour Palette in Episode 3

Right. So, Episode 3 is kinda fun because we finally get to test the colour palette hypothesis we've been building over the last two episodes. And dare I say, our hypothesis is somewhat accurate.

We can see colder tones in Areala’s flashback, which helps reinforce the idea that this palette is tied to the Warrior Nun.

Now, onto something that's both colour palette and blocking related.

Notice whenever Vincent tries to talk Ava into staying with them, a door will always present itself towards Ava for her to leave?

Like this part, when Ava tries to tell him she needs the weekend to think it over.

Or this part, when Vincent goes all gloomy and serious about the whole responsibility and duty of Warrior Nun.

Every time he's trying to persuade her to stay, the frame quietly gives Ava a visible exit.

And honestly? How could we blame her for leaving? She has just started making decisions based on what she can see, instead of what she feels.

And the colour relation of this blocking is that both doors in the pictures above lead Ava towards an exit that’s surrounded by a warm palette.

And remember in Episode 1, when Ava left the cold palette and head towards the warm palette to escape? And where did that lead her? Right back to the church. So now, Ava decides to leave the warm palette, and head towards the colder ones (through the window), because at this point, girly will try anything if it means she could get away from all this weird demon shit.

Blocking.

Honourable mention of this blocking. Love how the cane and stick form a ‘cross’ in this shot. A cross that’s also placed on Ava’s left shoulder, just like the previous ‘cross’ from Episode 2. The only difference is, Lilith and Mother Superion are the very reason why the cross existed. I’d say it depends on who’s on the right side of Ava to determine who stands where in Ava’s story, but I fear I might be reaching or reading too much into it.

Important Avatrice blocking.

I know the most pivotal Ava and Beatrice scene in this episode is the hug after Mama Supes goes full Cruella on Ava, but I think Drizzle's rant already covers most of the symbolism there. So instead, I'm gonna yap about this scene—the first time Ava and Beatrice get to talk to each other completely alone.

I love how Bea initially stands on the darker side of the frame. That's kind of her thing: she's always there for people, but just far enough away that she isn't really seen. (She does this back in Episode 1 too, when Shannon and Mary are talking.)

But then Bea notices Ava misinterpreting that distance as distrust—Ava says, "I'm serious," when Bea immediately, without hesitation, tells her that she believes her when she said she didn’t kill herself.

We see Bea start to step into the light, to let Ava see her wholly as she assures her on how she believes Ava to not be someone who’s dishonest. As she says this, she literally steps into the light. She’s choosing to let Ava see her more fully—to trust her with a little more of herself.

But then Ava starts ga(y)uging her;

And that leads to Bea retreating back into the dark—fearing that if Ava gets to see her in the light any longer, then she’ll see her for who she truly is.

By the end of the scene, we understand something important: Beatrice trusts Ava with the Halo, and she trusts Ava with part of her past, but she doesn't trust her enough to tell her everything.

Slow burnnnnn.

K thats it i think. I also talked abt the shots in EP3, you can go there right after you read Drizzle's amazing rant and Alm's beautiful analysis.

#warrior nun #episode #rewatch #drizzlerantsmaxyap #avatrice

Visuals of S1E3 that i think is fun to talk about.

Okay, shots first.

There were no ‘important’ rear-view shots of Ava in Episode 3. I think it’s safe to say that our girl is now trying to make decisions based on what she’s seeing, rather than what she’s feeling, which explains why we get to see a lot of front-view shots of Ava just a few seconds before she decides something.

Like this part, when Vincent is telling her she will be safe in here along with the other OCS’s members who are literally trained to fight demons and shit.

And then again when she’s assessing Mother Superion.

And also here, when she decided that she could work with Beatrice in the midst of everyone outcasting her.

It’s also worth mentioning that although we don’t get Ava’s usual rear-view shots in this episode, we do get quite a few of Vincent and Mother Superion.

In their case, though, I don’t think the rear-view shots represent internal conflict the way they do with Ava. Instead, they seem to emphasise how both characters are carrying histories and secrets that we haven’t uncovered yet.

Now onto Colour Palette and Blocking!

#warrior nun #episode #rewatch #drizzlerantsmaxyap

drizzleoftherain

EPISODE 3: Ephesians 6:11

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

The choice to start the episode with Ava restrained on a bed is done on purpose. She overhears Beatrice and Lilith deliberating about her life and her possible future, and alongside her we experience what she has had to endure since her accident at the orphanage. Choices being made for her without taking her into consideration.

Beatrice is the antithesis to Lilith. Where Lilith is ambitious and uncaring of who is hurt along the way, Beatrice is level headed and conscious that Ava is a person. Their dialogue speaks volumes about their nature. Lilith only takes God's decision into account when her desire is fulfilled, whereas Beatrice is aware that God has already decided.

“The halo chose her.”

“It doesn’t belong to her. I say we take it out.”

“And if she dies?”

“That’s up to God.”

Vincent’s manipulation of Ava during the Areala flashback can be easily dismissed if you’re only paying attention to Alba’s acting. She’s nonchalant as he speaks, almost like everything is a joke. And we as an audience misinterpret what is actually happening. Vincent is trying to get inside Ava’s psyche. He believes that he can persuade her by telling her about Areala’s orphan roots and lack of purpose. “She was a non-believer,” he says while gauging Ava’s reaction to the tale, whether he needs to adjust what he is saying. He is the puppet-master after all.

Beatrice’s emotional intelligence is an aspect of her character that often gets overlooked. She is mentally and physically brilliant. We often see her analysing, researching, and training, but there are also instances where she pauses and takes the person she is addressing in. She searches for the right words to say in order to understand and to help.

“Life is coming at all of us pretty hard right now. It might help things along if you didn’t treat everything like a joke.”

“Yeah, I can’t help it. It’s my default.”

Beatrice nods. She understands what Ava has said, not the simple ‘haha I’m funny’, no, it’s the ‘I cover my emotions with humour’ that goes unsaid.

“The halo wasn’t just hanging around, waiting for you to show up.” She waits and emphasizes, “It belonged to someone.”

Ava now understands the women have a lost someone they care for. That her making a joke of things isn’t appreciated. “I know. I’m sorry.” From that moment on the picture begins to truly be built for Ava. Not Vincent’s detached story about Areala and her similarities to her. It’s through Beatrice’s understanding and empathy to both her sisters and to Ava.

“I’m not her, you know.”

“No one expects you to be.”

One of my favourite things ever is how serious Camila takes the assignment of looking after Ava. Worth noting as well, Ava has been aware of it from the very beginning, which makes you wonder if during Vincent’s initial spiel Ava is just pretending to listen to his manipulation and coming to her own conclusions about his motivations for having her as the halo bearer.

The vest is lined with osmium, an energy dampener, like the walls of the protective room. When Lilith tricks Ava, she’s very quick to prove how receptive she is, “I thought this room was safe!”. She runs and phases through the wall because she thinks she has been lied to, but also because she is a survivor through and through and who the heck would trust Lilith.

“I know you killed yourself.” Mother Superion raises the antithesis to Ava.

Ava replies angrily, “I didn’t kill myself.” Everything up to this scene has told us this exactly, Ava is desperate to live.

As Vincent and Mother Superion argue over who has Ava’s best interests in mind it is Beatrice who is looking at her. Neither of them extend an ounce of support towards her, yet, Beatrice’s small touch is all it takes for Ava to break. The three of them have had scenes with Ava throughout the episode; Vincent introducing Areala, Mother Superion the halo, and Beatrice the order. But only one of them has shown true empathy.

“I’m ready to die.” Ava is being tested throughout the entire episode, but it isn’t what we and the other characters expect. “We are never ready, only prepared.” The test is Ava’s fear. What does she fear above all else? Death. And when met faced to face with a future where death is only a matter of time she chooses to run. She’s not ready for what is being asked of her.

She wants to live.

Warrior Nun S1E2's Visuals.

Blocking.

If you’ve read Drizzle’s EP2 rant, you’d know that this shot is quite important to the show. But we’re talking about blocking here, and how not only is Vincent placed under the painting (signifying his relation to the painting’s message), but he’s also put on the darker side of the shot to subtly tell us how he’s hidden underneath the dark, despite all the light in the room (from the window and the desk lamp RIGHT NEXT TO HIM)

I really like this shot, having Duretti separate Beatrice and Vincent in this scene, in addition to how Bea is on the lighter side while Vincent is on the darker side. Yet Vincent is placed on Duretti’s right side, which shows how Duretti trusted Vincent more than Beatrice, even with Vincent’s whole ass hidden dark side. (Pfft...Men.)

BUT. In certain moments of this scene, we get subtle hints of Vincent’s true side. We see him placed onto the left side of Duretti, after Beatrice left. (Again, I might be reaching)

And we see how Duretti, is the one placed in the light. (This, is not reaching, I’m actually quite sure of this)

It’s basically hinted to us where Vincent stands throughout the whole show—we’re just blinded by his patience and kindness. He puts us in armour and shit with care, only to tell the devil where our weak points are.

And finally, this shot is also incredibly important to the show. (You’ll understand more if you go read Drizzle’s post.) But it’s essentially foreshadowing what Ava’s meant to do.

@drizzleoftherain will talk about what symbolism lies beneath this shot, but I just want to point out that the blocking of this shot emphasize the placement of this "cross" coming from this bitch. (Vincent)

So, Ava will now bear the cross that he’s been carrying around because, no matter how insistent he is that Ava being chosen isn’t random, he’s also choosing to let Ava keep the Halo because losing Ava is easier than losing Lilith amidst his whole hidden agenda. That, or Ava is easier to manipulate than Lilith.

K, that's it. I also yap about EP2 colour palette and shots. You can head on there while you're at it.

#warrior nun #episode #rewatch #drizzlerantsmaxyap

Part 2 of S1E2 Visual Yap.

Shots.

Yes, this, I have a lot to yap about.

First up, we have the rear/front view shots of Ava.

In Episode 2, we don’t get a lot of internal monologues from Ava, hence we don’t get a lot of rear-view shots of her. BUT, there’s a scene of Ava talking to us internally that I think is so incredibly well done. We get to see both frontal and rear views of Ava.

Granted, some might say it’s to show us the Halo scar, but I think it’s also starting to show us that Ava’s making decisions based on what she feels internally, and what she sees externally—JC.

We also get front view shots of Ava when she's deciding whether or not to let her new friends into her life.

Her external view is often portrayed on her front shot, and here we see her taking in the moment and deciding that she might just like the friend group.

Until we get her rear-view shots, where doubts start to seep back into her mind. Might be her trauma internally, might be the Halo helping her out, or might be a little bit of both. But in conclusion? Her rear-view shots are always important for her.

Because then we get a frontal shot of her (as usual, another monumental scene after a rear-view shot) before she decides that she’s leaving the group and murmurs something about how she can slay her own dragons.

And towards the end of the episode, no emphasis on Ava’s rear-view shots is shown. Instead, we get these front-view shots of Ava finally making a decision that regards whatever’s happening around her.

Right. Moving on to other visuals stuff—Blocking.

#warrior nun #episode #rewatch #drizzlerantsmaxyap

Part 3 of S1E2 Visual yap.

A tiny yap abt colour palette for EP2

The colour palette hasn’t changed that much from Episode 1, but I think it’s worth mentioning that while Mary was out seeking the truth about Shannon’s death, the colder palette seems to follow her around too.

And then we also get to see how cold palettes are also pretty much around Arq-Tech.

This strengthens the theory that the cold palette is indeed latched onto the presence of Warrior Nun and anything related to them.

We’ll head to the other visual talk like shots and blocking, but before we do, make sure y’all have read Drizzle’s post first. She brilliantly breaks down the whole theme and symbolism of Episode 2. Go read her stuff.

#warrior nun #episode #rewatch #drizzlerantsmaxyap

drizzleoftherain

EPISODE 2: Proverbs 31:25

She is clothed with strength and dignity. With optimism she faces the days to come.

Themes

Ava wakes into a new day. She reaches with her hands, unable to retrain the emotions coursing through her at the realisation that, yes, she is alive. She is alive in more ways than she has known for a long time. She is incapable of hiding her joy as she smiles fully, squeals loudly and jumps to reach the ceiling.

“He’s into me. He busted in like he was gonna slay a dragon to save me.”

Ava’s attempts at love are naive, but there’s a hint here for later when JC actually does face a ‘dragon’ and runs away rather than save her, unlike coughBeatricecough. Don’t blame him though because same.

Now that @alms4oblivion has pointed out that Vincent is incredibly obvious about his Tarask knowledge, the story is, at least in my eyes, starting to play out very differently. He is purposefully telling them everything they need to hear on purpose. So, instead of chasing Mary’s ‘alleged’ mercenaries, he subtly encourages them to focus on the bigger picture and keeps them divided and away from his trail.

This art piece behind Beatrice and Vincent depicting Jesus in his rock-hewn tomb cannot have just been coincidence. There are elements foreshadowing Adriel and his predicament from the very beginning. Just like the son of God, sealed away behind a massive stone wall with Roman guards at the entrance, Adriel lies behind two dura thick walls of stone under the Vatican.

Alms strikes again with their keen eye! In the previous episode, a poster on Ava’s room wall showed her interests in the neural link wheelchair. And sure enough, the moment she walks into Arq-Tech she can’t help but gush about a Wired article on Jillian Salvius.

The entire scene between Cardinal Duretti (church) and Kristian (science) points out the great chasm between the two organizations. Interestingly enough, Ava appears to be the ‘bridge’ they so desperately need and talk about. I would also like to point out that Kristian willingly and unironically calls himself a corporate whore and then later he’s Adriel’s—I digress. Also, *snaps fingers*, the gurls are fighting!

What was that? Vincent, are you speaking to someone?! Those lips are moving! The show plays a lot with our perception. We assume Vincent is having a covenant with God, but of course we now know exactly what is happening. Vincent is speaking to Adriel through his Divinium tattoos. Earlier as well Kristian mentions that his sources in the Vatican have been helpful in finding the Divinium artifacts for Arq-Tech, then, the scene cuts to Duretti arriving at Cat’s Cradle. We’re being played with. Just like Ava is.

I’m sure this one has been talked about in the past, but just in case there are new viewers around that haven’t caught it yet. A lot of famous painters have depicted ‘Christ Carrying the Cross’ from El Greco, Bosch and Titian. It is the pivotal moment in Christ’s procession through the Old City of Jerusalem towards his crucifixion. Symbolically it foreshadows Ava’s path to death. Her Via Crucis—Way of Suffering. The arduous journey she must face to meet her fate.

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