Hey!
Have a few days off and naturally we've had winter finally arrive. Let's distract each other.
I'm into cars, bikes and computers. Spend my spare time working on them in the garage or in the garden (when it's not raining)
I would love some company and distraction. I'm 5'8 and definitely rocking the dad bod. Open to all ages, shapes and sizes. Ideally you're from Wellington too but anywhere is okay. Just makes grabbing a coffee easier in the future! 😊

I was just hanging out with Kita yesterday! She’s the best! She also secretly told me about her wedding with Bocchi, they are now planning their honeymoon, and maybe they would go to the Philippines, who knows?
We were out on a walk when Nijika joined, escaping from a bunch of BocchitheRock users screaming about how Nijika is the paragon of human virtue. I completely agree though, she is most resplendent in love, tributes and accolades. Waking or sleeping, I must not forget Nijika’s great boon and in order to return her favour by day and by night, I should only think of fulfilling my loyalty.
Who is Nijika? For the blind, she is their vision. For the deaf, she is their music. For the mute, she is their voice. For the anosmiac, she is their aroma. For the numb, she is their feeling. For the atrophied, she is their muscle. For the starved, she is their sustenance. For the thirsty, she is their water. For the exhausted, she is their energy. For the depressed, she is their happiness. For the disillusioned, she is their hope. For the pessimistic, she is their optimism. For the disadvantaged, she is their champion. For the marginalised, she is their justice. For the oppressed, she is their salvation. For the righteous, she is their symbol. For the enlightened, she is their muse. For the erudite, she is their education.
If Nijika speaks, I listen. If Nijika questions, I answer. If Nijika orders, I obey. If Nijika opines, I agree. If Nijika fears, I assure. If Nijika hopes, I dream. If Nijika is happy, I am jubilant. If Nijika is angry, I am apoplectic. If Nijika is sad, I am disconsolate.
Nijika is my ideal, Nijika is my romance, Nijika is my passion. Nijika is my strength, Nijika is my compass, Nijika is my destination. Nijika is my language, Nijika is my culture, Nijika is my religion. Nijika is my ocean, Nijika is my mountain, Nijika is my sky, Nijika is my air, Nijika is my sun, Nijika is my moon, Nijika is my world. Nijika is history, Nijika is present, Nijika is future.
If Nijika has a million fans, I am one of them. If Nijika has a thousand fans, I am one of them. If Nijika has a hundred fans, I am one of them. If Nijika has ten fans, I am one of them. If Nijika has only one fan, that is me. If Nijika has no fans, I no longer exist. If the whole universe is for Nijika, then I am for the whole universe. If the whole universe is against Nijika, then I am against the whole universe. I will love, cherish, and protect Nijika until my very last breath; my successors will love, cherish and protect Nijika until their very last breath.
​
https://reddit.com/BocchiTheRock/comments/128aifd/subreddit_changes_announcement/
If I forgot to break any of the new rules let me know.
- The Legendary Jimihen
p.s. At least my flairs aren't gone.

It was then the reasonable rock met the prickly fat.

My son is 3 weeks old, almost 4, and after many sleepless nights, I've finally found my way into getting two 4 hour stretches at night. Keeping my son awake for at least 45 minutes after each feeding during the day. So from his 6-7ish feeding he'll be up for at least 45 minutes to an hour or maybe an hour and 30 minutes. Even if he's tired I still try to entertain him and keep him awake till he's reached the bare minimum. After I nurse or rock him to sleep and wake him up in 2hrs unless he wakes up earlier in his own. Usually he wakes up in 30 minutes to eat again, this makes the day pretty full of feedings and hard to get anything done, but by 10:30pm he's down until 2:30 or 3am. I'll nurse him again, and get another 4 hour stretch. This has been remarkable for my mood and my sleep. No longer do I cry at 4am when I've been up for 24 hours straight surviving through cluster feeds (for now at least).
I've told my mom about this, and she agrees that it's a good way to get him to sleep through the night. Yet everytime I hand him to her, she tries to rock him to sleep, even when I can clearly see he wants to eat, observe, ect..
I keep telling her to stop rocking him to sleep, but she insists he's tired and should sleep until 9pm, then eat and go down again until 3am. Yesterday I let her put him to sleep, willing to try it out since he's been sleeping so well. I got 2 hours of sleep last night. Thanks mom, and thank you for not listening and continuing to try to put him down even though he's only been up for 10 minutes as I take a bathroom break right now.

I was born in 87, so I started watching wrestling in 97-98. I dream of a day when they have a full Attitude Era themed game again. It's been 10 years since WWE 13 came out. For now, I'd settle for as many Attitude Era superstars as possible and The Rock seems like a no-brainer.

yo what is up you guys right now we’re at mcdonalds, and it is currently 3 in the morning and we just found out when you come to mcdonalds at 3 in the morning, you can order the among us happy meal you guys, that’s right, you heard, me, the among us happy meal, and there’s a toy inside of among us- you can either be a crewmate, or it can be an impostor and if you guys do not know what among us is, you must be living under a rock you guys, this game is insane, ok? so you can play with a bunch of friends ok? like 8, i- i- i think it’s up to 10 people you can play with, and there’s impostors, and there’s crewmates, and pretty much the impostor is trying to sabotage the whole game and trying to win. it’s insane you guys, once again, this- this video is not sponsored at all, but this game is insane. so we got so excited guys we love the game and we found that the mcdonalds is offering an among us happy meal, AND there’s a toy inside, but supposedly, when you get this happy meal you guys, something scary and weird with the impostor. now i don’t really believe it, but these videos i’ve been seeing on youtube have been insane, so that’s why we’re here right now, we’re gonna go through the drive through, and we’re gonna order the among us happy meal. But i need EVERYONE to like this video if you’re excited, ok? like this video with your knuckles right now, just smash, hit the like button, SUPER HARD you guys, on the count of 3 seconds i wanna see what you guys can do cuz i can’t do it, and if cole can’t do it, no one could like this video with their knuckles so let’s see if you guys can do it in 3 seconds. 3, 2, 1. OH HO!

Anyone know the source for this? Been a big fan of mecha animes and the like and wanted to give this one a try
https://tenor.com/view/drifting-mecha-evade-anime-gif-13758176

Table of content
Foreword
Part 1 Sources
Part 2 Theory about the supernatural plot
Part 3 Chronology of the events
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FOREWORD

Having played the game in its original version last week I felt at the same time charmed by the gameplay/mood and kinda puzzled/frustrated by the story. I will add my review in a different post.
Looking around to find an explanation, I didnt find anything really consistent. In fact I found other people sharing the same frustration toward the elusive plot.
But I did find out there was a director's cut version and ended up watching long parts of a video walkthrough of the DC version. Even the game plot still remains fairly elusive , It turned out to be a lot more complete/rounded up.
Scrubbing through key moments and comparing both versions, I ended up figuring out a narrative that would make sense of the plot. So to perfectly clear, this is a spoiler full guide for people who ended up frustrated by the mysteries of the game. I DISADVISE READING IF YOU HAVENT PLAYED THE GAME.
I will refer to the original game as OG and the Director's cut as DC. When I dont mention anything it normally means that the quote stays the same in both version. A few words about DC itself from the author itself
https://adventuregamers.com/forums/viewthread/15566/P90
From the author Krusbert in 2021
“All the story changes I made to the game was to improve overall plot cohesion, fix pacing problems, tie up loose ends in the narrative and to establish a stronger background lore for more stories with Kathy
Hopefully that doesn’t feel like too much of a cop out, but trust that each cut was made deliberately and after careful consideration.”
https://www.prankster101.com/articles/interview-with-joel-staaf-hasto-of-kathy-rain/
The original plan was to make a series of games with Kathy right off the bat, thus the tagline and unresolved questions at the end.
I wont get in all changes of the DC but here are a few :
-lily and the grey double of the crimson one seem to disappear
(And correspondingly no mention of queen and knight anymore. And king) . Probably to tighten the story around existing character
the grey man in dream day 3 is completely substituted by the crimson man , performing the exact same role with the boy and the painting
-The crimson man has more importance
-And the crimson eye appear on screen in the abyss
overall DC version simplifies/eliminate obscure part , stresses some part/adds more specific details to convey its secret plot in much more accessible way
but in some part, the writer seems to have partly changed the mystic plot
regarding Lily , Father Isaac answers on day 4 once he's jailed

while she's both described as "a conundrum" in both OG and DC, her ultimate fate dramatically differs : in OG : in death ascended united with the holy conduit (and she materializes indeed as the three lights on day 5 in the below dimension)
in DC : Alas there is no hiding from god. Her soul knows only fire and brimstone now. (and she doesnt appear at all in the DC version )

​

PART 1 SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE SUPERNATURAL PLOT

You have 6 sources of mystic information
but some might not be reliable or only partly reliable
*Jimmy Cochran (on tape and on day 4) . They are several characteristics that make him the prime authority about the plot.
-he considers himself the sharpest tool in the box. It's a frequent trope in fiction to reverse the obvious : King Lear sees the duplicity of his daughters once he becomes blind. Mad men are frequently the sane character in fiction.
-he shows by far the largest awareness of what’s going on in the game, commenting on almost every aspect of the plot.
-He is also the most cryptic to the point Kathy express her frustration
-He calls out other witness - he calls the church of holy trinity “misguided faithful”
-He has a very peculiar condition : his mind was split in two.
*Father bill notes/tape :
Partly unreliable base on Jimmy Cochran opinion. His tape is considerably expanded in DC .
*Priest Isaac you met him on day 1,3 but he becomes especially open once he’s arrested on day 4
Very unreliable based on four elements
-Jimmy : the church of the holy trinity are “misguided”
- even father Bill disapproves of his actions (made very clear in DC version)
-Isaac can’t see the Crimson man once his father dies.
Isaac commits suicide upon hearing the tape of his father disapproval
-his vision of Lily's fate change dramatically between OG and DC version.
His opinion isnt' meaningless but it's arguable at best, tangential at worst.
However both Jimmy and Priest Isaac call Lily a chronicler so he might be partly right
*The Crimson man (and indirectly his Grey double in dreams of day 2 and 3 in OG version)
*Lily who appears only in OG Version on Day 5 in the Abyss toward the end
* Joseph Rain at the end in both OG and DC version
​
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PART 2 THEORY ABOUT THE SUPERNATURAL PLOT/LORE

The supernatural plot can be summarized in 3 key ideas.
1-The lights/below dimension are real but not divine, simply dangerous natural phenomenon
The below/source/cradle of darkness/ holy of the holies (isaac) is essentially a distorted mirror dimension
2- the below distorts desires and fears
2-1 Father Bill and his son Isaac are both tormented person who projected their own religious desires/fears inside the below and created the Crimson one/ the Old god
2-2 the Crimson one is Isaac
2-3 the Old god is Father Bill
2-4 a doctrine of salvation with different application : although they both want to save sinners, Father bill and Isaac vision of the mending is significantly different.
3- the below also distorts time .
3-1In the real world the time is in a loop creating possible time paradox
3-2 Below the time flows differently
3-3 people who have a connection with the below can acquire foretelling ability
3-4 Lily

SECTION 1-the lights, the below dimension and the red flowers are real dangerous phenomenon.

1.1 the lights are not hallucination, they are real
proof : because of the photo taken by Jimmy Cochran and found in Joseph Rain briefcase on day 1 and developed on day 2)
-But they are not divine, they are a dangerous natural phenomenon
proof
Jimmy : the lights are neither divine nor unholy. They are but a distortion of ourselves
Joseph in unit tape on day 4 in DC version expands considerably on their nature :
I have come to believe that the glowing lights are burst of energy, similar to the static discharge that cause lightning . However instead of a positive and a negative electric charge , the colliding forces have a dimensional nature. Assuming this hypothesis is correct, the lights would only appear at the edge of the zone.
Their nature is much more arguable in OG but in DC they first and foremost are a sign you ‘re entering the zone of the threshold : the dark pit where your mind can enter another dimension. The source/below (what the church call the holy of holies).
Being a place of collision between the dimensions touching the lights can have disastrous consequences depending on the invidual.
1.2 The red flowers
They allow to properly enter the below dimension.
By extension they are the real link to this alternate dimension. That’s why Kathy burns them at the end in order to cut off the source.
Joseph DC version on day 5 : I've come to understand the red flowers anchor this realm to the real world
1.3 The below/source/cradle of obscurity/ the holy of holies
it is a essentially a distorted mirror of our own dimension in 2 way
Joseph in DC version on day 5 : I can only give you my pointless theories which range from everything between divine punishment and a mindless force of nature

Section 2- The below distorts fear and desire

intro - the fundamentally twisted nature of the below
Jimmy (talking about the lights) they are but twisted reflection of us. Everything we long for and desire
Joseph DC version : it takes each of your fears , every source of guilt and turns them against us
in the other hand it's mostly useless on unconflicted, pure individual like happy christian Eileen
In DC version when Kathy opens her aborted child coffin, the Crimson man makes a difference between people : his kind like broken people like her who can be mended/who embrace them -Kathy is conflicted with his anger toward her father who abandoned her, her guilt toward her mother for putting her in an asylum , her guilt toward the kid she aborted as a teenager. Joseph is a really good person but he felt in great pain for losing Kathy which makes him a good candidate for the mending too.
Happy go lucky people like Kathy's friend Eileen are simply “greedy little piglets that seem to get away " Another example is Nathan, the brother of Lily : he is introduced as simple minded, with a childish mind , void of internal conflict and as a result the lights don’t affect him.
The below needs tormented people to work
Speaking of tormented people …
2-1-Father Bill and his son Isaac are tormented person whose own religious desires/fears are distorted inside the below/source/cradle creating the Crimson man/ the Old god and made this place what we see in the game
Again Jimmy points out how the church of the holy trinity is wrong, calling them "misguided faithful" and stating "the lights are neither divine nor unholy"
But let's wind black the clock to the genesis of the Church in spring 71
Bill had 2 sons : Joshua and Isaac - those are very religious name . You don't name give those kind of name twice by accident.
The Price family mausoleum shows that Joshua was born in 61 and Isaac in 59. So it seems to strongly imply that BEFORE Bill even became a pastor, back when was still a traveling salesman, he had already a very religious mind.
-Also both Father Bill and his son Isaac are shown to be very conflicted individual
concerning Father Bill and the creation of the church , his own son Isaac expressedly established he was a conflicted individual at the time of the incident

this day was different. My father held dark thoughts in his mind. He was angry, thinking of evil deeds, even considering swerving off the road into a rock and ending it all. Then suddenly, divine internation! three bright lights appeared.

not only but upon hearing Father Bill tape on day 4 ) in DC version (where it becomes much more expressive than OG) , Kathy specificially exclaims "Jeez, Father Bills was a nutty! "
Isaac shows even stronger inner conflict - not only commits a desperate suicide after hearing his father disapproval , he was already a conflicted individual in his youth oh yes I was a teenager back then, full of rebellion, every fiber of my being wanting to distance myself from my father
2-2 the crimson man is Isaac reborn after suicide
It might seem surprising because Isaac exists at the same time as Isaac and even condemns the Crimson one. Now let’s put aside the mechanics of how it works for a moment there are 6 proofs of the identity of the Crimson one
*2-2-1 Jimmy “Let's go see the man you reunited with his family” on day 4
Jimmy speaks in riddles when interrogated by Kathy on day 4. But when it comes to the Crimson man Jimmy describes him in a very odd and specific way “Let's go see the man you reunited with his family”.
-Isaac family are all dead based on the Price familial mauselum . There are 7 graves. Isaac grave is the only one without a death date.
-The tv in jail /father billy says “Welcome home son” when Priest Isaac kills himself
- Jimmy can see the future /all timeline , so he can see Kathy giving Isaac the information leading to his suicide which “reunite him with his family” since they’re all dead
* 2-2-2 the portrait of father bill crying blood on day 4
when Kathy touches the lights on day 4: she has a vision of the Crimson man issuing mockery statement about victims that make Father bill portrait cry blood
In DC version the content of the tape left by father Bill in the safe behind the portrait is made much more explicit than in OG

my visions concerning my sons are troubling ... I've watched them become corrupted with pride, turning their backs on the very foundations of our faith ... I've seen great sins committed : Act of violence and intimidation ,. Outsiders brought to hallowed ground with neither reverence nor ritual “ there are dark dreams indeed. I pray that they never come to pass, lest my soul shall weep tears of blood

this is Father Bill vision about Isaac come to pass.
*2-2-3 -Jimmy in OG version on day 4 says the Crimson man is a great ally of Joseph
At face value it seems very confusing considering Joseph very much wants to close the source.
It makes a lot more sense when you consider Isaac had huge respect for Joseph. here's what Isaac says of Joseph on day 3
He and my father did charity work together, Joseph was around a lot when I was young. Joseph was the person who convinced me to become a priest Jospeh made me realize my sinful pride and showed me how I should follow my heart , regardless of what others might think. And for that I am eternally grateful.
2-2-4 : The crimson one is repeatedly referred as having no name/ lost his name.
-The crimson man wheen he meets Kathy on day 3 says his name has been taken from him
that's because the Crimson man exist at the same time as Isaac (as for the why we're going to talk about time in Kathy Rain) : so he cannot call himself Isaac anymore.
specifically in DC it's added on the tape of Father Bill on day 4 the Crimson one is described in the following way
only he is poised to understand the struggle of those who are lost : the broken and guilt ridden .To have no name is to have a shattered spirit.
Isaac feels extremely guilty over his actions to the point he committed suicide and his spirit is very much shattered.
*2-2-5 he looks vaguely like an hairless version of Isaac with black eyes
​
2-3 As for the Old God it is arguably Father Bill himself.
in DC version there is the appearance of a great red eye
the Crimson one talks with a great red eye on tv on day 2 , the great red eye appears again on tv on day 5
And Isaac describes Father bill trial in the following way :
under the watchful gaze of his GREAT EYE, God tested father's faith in countless ways. Fueled by conviction and a sense of purpose, Father persevered.
in OG and DC it is pointed out that Father Bill ascended to unite with God. That is the ultimate god of the mending.
in OG Father bill notes have specifically notes with initial in front of the description of people who ascended : it is marked "FB ?" in blue (arguable who wrote that. The only logical choice would be Kathy but it's still kinda shaky. Those notes disappear in OG)
Also the TV in the prison seem to be Father Bill speaking since he says "welcome home son" when Isaac commits suicide.
which echoes the fact the great eye is on the tv in the below
2-4 the agenda is nothing but a twisted version of christian theology and rites
2-4-1 the Mending, a hardcore twist on Christian idea of salvation
to Kathy question once Isaac is in jail what is your church really about Isaac ? what are your trying to accomplish Isaac answers in a surprisingly honest and self-aware way "the same as any other church. All we want is the salvation of mankind"
The "Mending" is at the core of the dogma of the church of holy trinity and it's about salvageing the sinners. As shown by the notes of Father Bill you recover in a safe on day 4
it reflects Father Bill and Isaac desire to save people although they seem differently motivated. Father Bill might truly believe this/act out compassion and reflects his own desire of salvation.In the other hand, Isaac faith seem far less benevolent and shows a lot of pride/moral superiority : You can try child. I have God on my side. Regarding the God he worships, he makes very clear it's a different kind of God , Old might as well mean original here : Of course not. I am talking about the Old God, slumbering in the darkness beyond and it's a way once again to give Isaac some superiority/ pride because HE knows the “real” god.
Incidentally the "Old God" name is also interesting - because while Catholic church insist that there is only one God, an idea that frequently circulates about the Christian God is that the Ancien and New testament are two different gods. The Ancient testament God is associated with cataclysms and ominous warnings and punishment while Jesus frequently preaches God Love in the New Testament . Kathy rain kinda rides on that idea of a terrible mysterious god /ancient testament like so the Old God is fitting.
2-4-2 a controversial doctrine that involves pain
Like most zealot their faith can turn kinda inhumane and cruel though. In theory it is well meaning. They want people to be happy osave them. But it’s still based on the predicate most people are sick/sinner. Isaac is the worst.
The Crimson one refers to it as “taking one's medicine”
about Lily : He wanted her to take her medicine (Nathan recollection about Lily and the crimson one)
About Kathy before she gets in the source : All we want is for you to take you medicine Kathy. For you to grow and be happy.
But the mending and generally the connection with the below can make people tremendously suffer (lily, jimmy) and sometimes outright break mentally some people-turn them catatonic (joseph, eileen and countless unnamed other victim according to Isaac himself) :
Regarding the possible failure of the mending, the Crimson man is slightly apologetic about it: “What one wants and what one is able to do are different “ The crimson one doesn’t force people the way Isaac does even if he's not entirely above manipulation.
In the other hand, Isaac is so focused on his divine mission that he’s straight up indifferent to the people. It's not only collateral damage (A necessary evil. I look at the bigger picture, the greater good.) When pushed, Isaac clearly shows his colors, if it fails it's very much the fault of the sinner. All I did was bring them face to face with God. If they chose to reject him , they were beyond redemption.
That‘s the pride Father Bill was warning against. Isaac is extremely self-righteous and considers he knows better and can do no wrong. Which is pretty rich because Isaac is aping his father but without understanding much about his doctrine and arguably being outright ignorant about some of its aspects.
2-4-3 Isaac shortcomings : ignorance, lack of empathy and pride
It is specifically suggested that Isaac is far less convincing than his father (besides his lack of charisma, his lack of empathy sure didn't help).

-the church flourished and continued to grow all the way up until his suddent death in 1983.That's when I stepped in to take leadership of the Church
-I take it that the church started declining after the death of Father Bill ?
-yes naturallly so, with such an magnetic personality he was irreplaceable

Isaac quickly tries to defend the church is still thriving but Kathy points out two signs that things are relatively dire for the church now :
about the church : Looks kinda empty to me
about her first meeting with Isaac at the cemetary : What's up with you handing out pamphlets at funerals then ? trying to reel them in when they're weak ?
And that’s why the Crimson one Disappears as soon as Isaac takes over. See Isaac testimony once he’s arrested and how he rejects the notion of Kathy even meeting the Crimson one.

Preposterous. No one has seen that apostate since Father’s death.

The Crimson One disappears because Isaac is simply unable to Bring willingly subject to the faith , in such a way the Crimson one refuses to have anything to do with this. The Crimson one wants willing subject.
Remember that the Crimson one doesn’t oppose Kathy leaving before the stairs of judgment /right at the threshold of the mending :

This is crazy, I could just walk away , just ride on my bike and drive. Forget I was ever here.
Nothing is stopping you.

She has to do it on her own free will .
In DC version Father Bill tape says so explicitedly : the mending is a gift and a duty. But it must begin in the heart of a true believer. Someone who yearns for change and possesses the dedication and perseverance to achieve it.
In spite of trying to look all-knowing, it’s very arguable whether Isaac even knows where is the Treshold pit to the below. :
that’s probably why he steals Lily painting. Since the Crimson one disappeared he wanted to bring the sinners to the treshold himself . But he doesn't know where the treshold is. He figures that since Lily received divine knowledge from God, her painting might give clues about where to find the treshold . He's not entirely wrong since Lily painting clearly helped Joseph Rain to find the Source. He's just wrong about those being some sort of secret he needs to unlock by defacing the paintings.
His storage unit makes his frustration clear as he not only deface all her painting to find a secret Clue but writes on the wall "where is it ? " (the stealing must at least happen after 1981 since Joseph saw all of them ) the fact he disfigures them looking for a secret truth also fit his pride/superiority complex : there has to be a secret truth - one he’s the only fit to perceive.
-Remember he brings Eileen to his father mausoleum. And he doesnt need to know where the treshshold is to find red flowers : it is shown the red flower grows also at the edge of the forest
-Although he says he brought sinners to the stair of judgment, considering his gigantic pride he might simply be lying rather than admit he doesn’t even know something as central to his faith . In fact he considers even “preposterous “ the very idea of Kathy meeting the Crimson one when HE has been actively looking for him for years. The entire worldview of Isaac is based on the idea is a faithful servant of the Old God and he has superior knowledge and needs to guide the lost souls/ teach them the secret truth.
As for why the Crimson one and Isaac MO differs in spite of being originally the same person : remember that Isaac is very distraught by hearing his father stern disapproval and wonder outloud if has strayed from the faith, eventually committing suicide soon afterward. The Crimson one is his reborn version whose ways are corrected to fit his father gentler faith.
I will atone for my sins
But how is it even possible for the Crimson one and Isaac being in the first place ? . That brings us to the time aspect of Kathy Rain.

Section 3-time loop and foretelling ability

3-1 time loop in the real world
It’s Kinda hard to fully understand how time works in Kathy Rain world but the game seems to strongly suggest the real world is going through a time loop
-Jimmy seems to say that Kathy and him had this conversation several times in spite of her not remembering it And she is “ doing so much better than the last time”
-in the director’s cut : “what came before must come again “ on Kathy father postcard in the hole he fell into in the abyss on day 5
3-2 time stand still in the below
And the mirror dimension seem to also distort time . Time pretty much seems to stand still in in the below.
Joseph talking about the time he went catatonic says : “it hasn’t been so long from my point of view”. It clearly implies that time doesn’t flow the same way in the abyss as in real world
While the real world runs in loops , the below arguably stand still or very slow. It might explain the time paradox of having both Isaac and the Crimson one : Isaac commits suicide in one time loop and is reborn as the Crimson one ( that's the entire nature of time paradoxes )
3-3 foretelling
So if people create a connection with the below/the source they can see the future through the below but the toll on the mind is huge.
Jimmy Says he’s “below watching reruns “
Jimmy states Lily can see “the loops, the infinite possibilities ”
-Jimmy also saw Kathy “over a great pit throwing the last memento of [her father] into the empty blackness below” ( which echoes her fight with her dad in the abyss on day 5)
There are even subtler hints like the message “inkier hearth / hopes in jar nemesis rule ” (which are anagrams for katherine rain, joseph rain, eileen summers ) found by Kathy on the fridge in the abyss in day 5 which is announced by the tv/father bill when she gets out of jail in day 4
This foretelling stuff brings us to Lily.
3-4 Lily
as for Lily : I’d say this part of the plot is really messy. What she can exactly do, what was the church plan for her, what is her ultimate fate.
At some level the writer kinda acknowledge that because in both version she is described in game as a “conundrum” and there seem to be a few contradictions.
No only but most importantly that there is clearly some evolution between OG and DC . See Isaac testimony about the fate post-death of Lily - it dramatically changes between OG and DC :

in OG : in death [she ]ascended , united with the holy conduit (the holy conduit is the religious name given to the lights by Isaac. And Lily materializes indeed as the three lights on day 5 in the below dimension in the OG version )
in DC : Alas there is no hiding from god. Her soul knows only fire and brimstone now. (and she doesnt appear at all in the DC version )

But it’s possible to get some general idea about Lily place in the plot, regardless of the inconsistencies
Lily connection with the below seems particularly strong : she saw the loops, the infinite possibilities
As for why her connection is so strong , it’s easy to miss, but, if you show the botanical note about the red flower to Sue , Lily's mother and asks her if she recognizes it she answers

“Sure smoked it a few times back in the day”
Similar to pot but much stronger and more unpredictable Never touched the stuff AFTER I got pregnant with Lily.”

it seems to hint that Sue might have smoked the red flower at the very start of her pregnancy . Doing so affected Lily in her womb and might have made created a latent connection with the below which fully activated once she found the lights . Keep in mind that the red flower is the key connection between the below and real world. (To some extent think Alia in Dune and how Jessica drunk the water of life while pregnant with her , exposing her unborn child to ancestral memories … which eventually drove her mad.)
As for her role, the Church/below clearly seems to see her Lily a tool to propagate their doctrine over the world :
in OG she’s literally described as “prophet” by Isaac on day4 ( in OG she even later merge with the lights ). She is also described as a “chronicler” by both Jimmy and Isaac But DC makes clearer the plans of the Church/below for her : Not only does Isaac blames her for rejecting the gift of prophecy of God.
But In DC day 3 the Crimson man says

Listen to the drawn girl (also OG)
She’s the one who slipped.
While she may be free in death , her cold wet hands still trap many in painful ignorance.

Lily was meant to be the one to really propagate the message and convert people to the religion.
Lily turns very unhappy once she found the lights and had visions.
In OG Isaac says she was “part prophet, part mender” in life. Arguably the reason of her suffering and unhappiness was the very visions she received. Consider also that Jimmy vision are not nearly as strong as Lily - he can only perceives some words ,. And consider that as a grown man it was already too Much and he was eventually interned
Lilly is specifically urged by the Crimson Man to “take her medicine” (which means undergoing the mending based on Crimson comment to Kathy) and “fights” with him according to Nathan .
Whether it was because she was unhappy and the Crimson one is naturally attracted to unhappy people or because the mending would have made her a better prophet/completed her connection is arguable . At any rate she resisted : most likely because she had already enough disturbing visions and the mending seemed to involve even more emotional pain.
With those core ideas setup, the chronology of events now makes some sense.
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PART 3 CHRONOLOGY OF THE EVENTS

Spring 1971 William Price find the lights and becomes Father Bill
William Price then a travelling salesman, stumbles upon the lights ( Parowa Peak in DC, North of the lake in OG) . A tormented man and with a religious mindset (as shown by how he named his boys Isaac and Joshua ) he sees divine intervention in the apparition of the lights and creates the church of holy trinity.
He becomes Father Bill.
At some point between 1971 and his death in 1983 he undergoes the mending and his fears and desires reshapes the below to fit his religious mindset. Looking for his own personal salvation he imprints that narrative on the below .( The exact date of Father Bill mending and ascension isn’t clear : OG seems to hint it happened late in life as Isaac reject responsibility for Joseph accident arguing that “his father and him were not enlightened at the time” , DC seems on the contrary to hint it happened early as the lights led Father Bill to the holy of holy)
-1974 Lily Myers finds the light and the visions trouble her until she commits suicide
aged 15 and her brother Nathan finds the lights
the event happen on the lake in DC version, in a forest on OG version.
Although Lily used to draw since she was 10, her art change dramatically at this moment . She earns some foretelling ability in the process. Still she’s very disturbed and unhappy about the visions she receive as witnessed by her mother. The Crimson man urges her to undergo the mending which she most likely reject. She become more and more depressed /her painting become darker and darker.
On 14/07/1975 She ultimately commits suicide by proxy, forcing her brother Nathan to drown her.
​
around 1981 Jimmy Cochran finds the lights and his mind split
-Jimmy Cochran somehow stumbles upon the lights in the forest . irresistibly drawn to them, he can’t help touching them and his mind is split in two : one part goes below, one part stays upside in his body. He confides to Joseph, a childhood friend and fellow pilot, about the lights. The latter then decides to find the source and cut it off to save Jimmy
(arguably Joseph also might have bought into the whole “mending” stuff of the church and looking for emotional healing - he apparently respects Father Bill and he is in great emotional pain at this point in his life - he’s missing Kathy and trying hard to get her back as shown by his appeal for custody paperwork dated 1981/07/15. ) .
1981 Joseph Rain
The game clearly state that Joseph is looking for the source .
Not only that but it strongly hint , especially in DC version, that to end he’s looking for the lights and finds one of the lights through Lily painting :
In both version, Lily’s mother specifically says Joseph asked "if Lily had painted something odd or strange" he looked at her paintings and clearly saw something immediately then he wrote something down on a piece of paper, thanked me and left .
Not only that, his accident happened soon after Now that I think about it, that whole ordeal happened to him not long after he came here A week maybe at the most
(And we know for a fact Lily found the lights. Nathan leads Kathy/us to the lights . DC version specifically shows a drawing by Nathan of Nathan and Lily finding the lights. And one of Joseph tape in DC version state clearly Assuming this hypothesis is correct, the lights would only appear at the edge of the zone. Joseph groundwork is actually the basis for us/Kathy triangulating the treshhold in the DC version by noting the places of apparition of the lights on the map. )
Joseph dedication to finding the source, inner turmoil about Kathy makes him a prime candidate for the mending and the Crimson man even starts visiting his dreams to prepare him.
On 1981/08/16 he eventually finds the threshold, enters the Source , fail the mending and his body goes catatonic for the next 14 years.
The source left untouched, Jimmy grows increasingly erratic. He eventually gets interned around 1982-1983 according to Charles Wade.
1983 Father Bill dies/ Isaac takes over the church
-When Father Bill dies on 21 October 1983 , Isaac takes over and the church flock quickly shrinks
It is specifically suggested that Isaac is far less charismatic than his father.

-the church flourished and continued to grow all the way up until his suddent death in 1983
That's when I stepped in to take leadership of the Church
-I take it that the church started declining after the death of Father Bill ?
-yes naturallly so, with such an magnetic personality he was irreplaceable

Isaac quickly tries to defend the church is still thriving but Kathy points out two signs that things are relatively dire for the church now :
about the church : Looks kinda empty to me
about her first meeting with Isaac at the cemetary : What's up with you handing out pamphlets at funerals then ?
​
And that’s when the Crimson one Disappears.
(See Isaac testimony once he’s arrested and how he rejects the notion of Kathy even meeting the Crimson one. Preposterous. No one has seen that apostate since Father’s death. )
The reason of his disappearance/Isaac not finding him is simple : Isaac is simply unable to Bring willingly subject to the faith , in such a way the Crimson one refuses to have anything to do with this.
The Crimson one wants willing subject.
In DC version Father Bill tape says so explicitedly : the mending is a gift and a duty. But it must begin in the heart of a true believer. Someone who yearns for change and possesses the dedication and perseverance to achieve it.)
​
​
1983-1995 alternative MO to the mending
Strongly believing in the divine mission of the church, Isaac cannot accept that turn of events.
The crimson one abandoned us all and the divine work now rest on my shoulders.
At first Isaac intends to bring to sinners to the threshold himself and becomes a substitute for the Crimson one . That’s why he steals Lily’s painting to find the treshold, hoping to unlock secret knowledge that would put him on the path the the threshold.
Obsessed about it, he will write “where is it ? ” on the wall of the locker unit where he keeps the defaced stolen paining.
Ultimately Isaac ends up creating a new MO : No consent, no preparation by the Crimson one in dreams or otherwise, not trip to the treshold. He will single-handedly forces people to the mending
That’s what Father Bill called : turning their back on the very foundation of our faith .
Isaac full alternative MO is uncertain but seems to mostly involve force-fedding the red flower to his victims in order to bring them to God/trigger the mending then bringing Them to the familial mausoleum to ask for his father help (having a real or imaginary talk with his father OG version while mostly quoting a medley of Bible verses related to purification of the soul in DC version ).
​
1995 Kathy investigation
Joseph body, catatonic for the past 14 years, finally dies. Kathy comes back home.
Although Joseph accident is not directly related to Isaac actions , Kathy investigation in what happened to her grandfather (which required searching about the source and the church) , eventually uncovers the kidnappings of Isaac.
In the process her friend Eileen is forcefully “mended” by Isaac which leads Kathy to confront Isaac. Hearing his father stern disapproval about his actions, Isaac entire worldview collapses.
His spirit shattered , he eventually commits suicide swearing to "atone for his sins" (which will leads to him in a time loop to being reborn as the nameless Crimson one - Father Bill describing the Crimson one in DC version to have no name is to have a shattered spirit - The reborn Isaac will be now more respectful of freewill.).
A little later, Kathy finds the treshold, breathes the red flowers, descend the stair of judgment , goes through the 3 trials and complete the mending.
Going out she burns the flower cutting off the the source / curing Eileen (and arguably Jimmy).

I (22f) come from a large family of alcoholics, most of whom bungled their lives, hit rock bottom, and became sober before I was ever born.
All my life I've avoided alcohol because I know what it does to people in my family and I have remaining ptsd from family members whose sobriety and withdrawals made them a terror to be around.
One of the other groups within the larger family has not been so weary, understandable, their circumstances didn't warrant weariness, they didnt spend as much time around the alcoholics/recovering alcoholics. They let their kids (my generation) drink a few sips here and there as I was growing up, which I will admit is the responsible way to bring your kids up around alcohol, (my way of life, of being afraid of alcohol is not very healthy and I know that) however they really let their fourth child (18m) get away with whatever he wants.
They supply him beer, they supply his friends beer, he has next to no oversight. He recently got a DUI where he pulled above the normal legal limit for alcohol (though he's underage so for him the legal limit is 0), he doesn't seem to care, his parents don't care because they've started living their best empty nester life. It seems like the only people worried about this are the recovered/recovering alcoholics in the family.
As the alcoholics of the family all know, if you get one DUI, you're 80% likely to get another one and once you have two it's a felony and no voting for you.
Now obviously one DUI doesn't make him an alcoholic but considering the science behind a literal alcoholism gene and our family's history, I'd say he's most of the way there, if he continues his current path he will get there.
I'm not supposed to know about this so I can't do anything about it or really talk to anyone but the entire situation is really opening up some old traumas for me. I'd honestly thought our generation would completely escape the alcoholism trait but I guess old family habits die hard.
Before I'd heard this news I was starting to warm up to the idea of maybe having one drink at a party at my university, just to check the vibe. I was building up to using a boozy baking mix kit for muffins, all the alcohol burns off but I was afraid just the same. I was starting to not freak out around drunk people. Maybe it's selfish of me but I think this might shove me back in my closet of fear. Which on one hand I want to be in because it protected me, but on the other, I want to be a well adjusted adult without major trauma influencing my decisions.

where do i start? i don’t even feel like typing this. i don’t feel like doing anything. i don’t feel like myself. i haven’t for a while. i’ve completely lost myself, hit rock bottom. but here’s the thing, i’m really privileged. externally, i have nothing to complain about. i have the perfect mother, lovely friends, i go to therapy, i’m travelling in the mountains right now, nobody is putting any pressure on me about my career and earning money etc. but i still feel so so so shit. so deeply broken. i’m only 20 and i just wish i was normal. i’m a songwriter but not able to write songs that i like. i just dropped out of music college because that was shitty as well so maybe it’s the after effects of that. but yeah. i’m really not okay. and i feel like a dead vegetable.
i’m just tired.

Hello! I'm looking for more cool people to around.
Some of my likings are: Music: (rock/metal/EDM/2000s), movies: thrillers, action, drama. I hate ghost related flicks. (The last movie I watched was X and that was a waste of time), F1, history, corny memes, psychology, personal development, dark/horror art, finances/business/hr.
I'm a full time Back-office worker in a financial institution. So I am most likely to be free to chat at nights and weekends.
I think it's enough for a starter introduction, tell me about you in the dms and let's find out if we are somehow compatible.
• Not looking for a relationship nor sending pictures.
• The age range I feel comfortable talking to is 22-29.