Chapter Four Is Now Available...

[Bob Schroeck]

---

Ah, good - that gives me a few more days than I thought/dreaded I had...

---

Days? Try months.
-- Bob
---------
Visit beautiful Boston, proud successor to Seattle as
"City Most Scared Of Its Own Shadow

[Necratoid]

Just to be random I'm going to make a rather obscured guess that Skuld's little project is intended to gain access into the union that sends people along the path or sunny stonework. Should such a need arise.

[Norgarth]

found a copy of the song on youtube (clipped from the movie)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p7hFW2FFs4__________________
The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live. - George Carlin.
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

[Vulpis]

---

Wait until the end of DW5 to write that, okay? Just so you know what to do to keep continuity.

---

If you mean my little idea--unless Doug is going to eliminate Mara (which, IIRC, would take out Bell as well? I forget who Mara's 'partner' is in the Duo system or whatever its called in AMG), the idea still works...

[Kokuten]

---

take out Bell as well? I forget who Mara's 'partner' is

---

oh _hell_. I forgot about the Doublet system.. is that in place here?
Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[Vulpis]

I seem to recall the Doublet system being mentioned in the 'Ah My Brother' stories (IIRC, being used as the reason the Trio couldn't let Paradox go turn Mara into paste.. ;-) ), so I'm fairly sure it's in force in DWV, too...

[Necratoid]

Depending on how the system works in this realm, it may not concider a mortal killing a God/demon as an activation of the system.

[robkelk]

Canonically, Mara is not the doublet of Belldandy. Spoilers in white, and not just for the demon's identity: Belldandy's doublet is Velsper, the only Celestial to ever remember who her doublet is. She cursed herself to remember, at the expense of never aging; when asked, she replied "would you want to forget her?" When this was discovered, Hild (making her first appearance in the manga) was extremely displeased... There's also no indication in canon that every Celestial is part of the Doublet System. However, since the memories of who's part of the system are erased, they don't know who's part of the system, so they act as if everyone is for safety's sake.

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[DHBirr]

Nit-picky clarifying spoiler in white: Velsper actually started out male, and part of Hild punishing him was to turn him female. It was made pretty clear that he'd precociously (they were both small children at the time) fallen in love with Bell during the Doublet Matching.
Sorry, Comrade Kelk, but as I said once before, nit-picking is really all I'm good for.
-----
Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.

[robkelk]

Mea culpa... Comrade Birr is correct with that erratum. (Hey, even an expert flubs every so often, and I'm not an expert...)

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[DHBirr]

Re-reading Chapter Four, I picked up on something that hadn't fully registered the first time through....
If there was any doubt in anyone's mind that these Kyriotates are not just jerks, but JERKS, this should dispel it:

---

And in the moment before she closed the door, Belldandy glared at the two overly-inquisitive ravens peering through the window over his head.

---

Anyone Belldandy treats to a hostile look has to be an irredeemable paradigm of jerkness.
Are there any decent Kyriotates? Or is that as much a contradiction in terms as, say, "warm-hearted Gestapo man"? Explain to me again how these are supposed to be part of the "good guys"?
I complained about these characters after Chapter Three, and people told me that the Archangels Dominic and Lawrence are the worst of the lot, and some of the others are much better. But if they take no action to keep the creeps under control, the other archangels are at least partially complicit in their offenses.
On a slightly lighter note: Chris listed several archangels together with a rating of how he/Paradox feels about them. I'm mildly irritated that one of In Nomine's jerks is "David" -- Archangel of Stone, if I remember right. If anyone wondered what the "D" in "DHBirr" stands for, now you know. It's a pity in a way that there isn't an Archangel Douglas -- it would've been fun to see Colonel Sangnoir try to wrap his head around that.
------
Those who believed that the laws of physics made things "possible" or "impossible" were mistaken. Time travel violated one of those laws. Physics took its revenge.
-----
Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.

[Vulpis]

Whoever said the Christian pantheon were the 'good' guys? Read the Bible...Paradox gripes about how much of a jerk the version of 'The Boss' *he* deals with..but the canonical Christian 'version' of him (presuming, as has been suggested, that 'Kami-sama' is *all* of the 'Head Deities' rolled into one) makes Paradox's version look like Belldandy...
As for giving your name a bad name, David--I feel for you. Especially since I share a RL first name with Teal-boy and his Author, as well as the gripes inherent with that. ;-)

[jpub]

I'm sorry to say, the ArchAngels in In Nomine aren't exactly the nicest of folk, for the most part.
And right now, the only example of the Choir we're seeing are the most annoying parts, and they're dealing with people they're not find of. Just consider how a group whose job it is to watch the 'good' guys for signs of corruption really feel about a group like the Norse Gods or even worse, the Olympians.
And by the way, all those ravens are part of the same guy.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?"

[Vulpis]

Something of a tangent, but I'm wondering about the origins of a couple of .sigs here...In particular, David, where is yours from? And Chris...what Boo is that? Chicken Boo, Boo from Mighty Orbots, or someone else entirely?

[itsune9tl]

---

And Chris...what Boo is that? Chicken Boo, Boo from Mighty Orbots, or someone else entirely?

---

My guess that "Boo" Would be Largo's some what ineffective consience from www.megatokyo.com. A place where magical girls exist alongside giant robots, rentable godzilla, and voice actors have a form of emotionally based mind control.

[Vulpis]

Ahhhh. I haven't read MT in years now.

[The Hunterminator]

---

My guess that "Boo" Would be Largo's some what ineffective consience from www.megatokyo.com.

---

Mmm... I was thinking that it was the 'space hamster' or somesuch boo from Baldurs Gate 2, though I might just be confused, I haven't played in quite a while.

[jpub]

This is in fact a quote from Minsc, the Rashaman ranger from Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, talking to his miniature giant space hamster and animal companion, Boo.
--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?"

[DHBirr]

---

Just consider how a group whose job it is to watch the 'good' guys for signs of corruption really feel about a group like the Norse Gods or even worse, the Olympians.

---

Ah, the Olympians . I hadn't really thought about what creeps they were until I read Pyramid Scheme, by Eric Flint and Dave Freer. ("I'm a goddess, dah-ling. I can speak to anyone I want." (To be fair, that line was spoken by a goddess who chose to help the heroes.))
Perhaps it'll help, then, if I think of the Kyriotates as the equivalent of a police department's Internal Affairs Division. The street cops typically hate them, but they do perform an essential function: looking for cops on the take or those who've descended to framing suspects or using unnecessary force.
I'm still stewing about their ultimatum regarding Megumi, however, and I'll continue to cherish my wholly implausible fantasy of inflicting painful violence on just such an unkindness of ravens. Especially the part where I whispered, "Nevermore," as I squeezed the trigger.
Vulpis, regarding the sig: That line is actually the only thing I remember from a dream I had about a month ago. If you hoped it was from a fic worth reading -- sorry.-----
Those who believed the laws of physics made things "possible" or "impossible" were mistaken. Time travel violated one of those laws. Physics took its *revenge*.
-----
Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.

[Vulpis]

Hmmm. My tendency's toward humorous havoc and chaos make me wonder what would happen if you tosses Neil Gaiman's 'happy' little family of D's into the mix..or at the very least, have Doug run into them elsewhere (Of course, if you want to go to the *really* surreal, he runs into them..and Delirium keeps calling him 'little brother'... ;-) )

[Herr Bad Moon]

---

Perhaps it'll help, then, if I think of the Kyriotates as the equivalent of a police department's Internal Affairs Division. The street cops typically hate them, but they do perform an essential function: looking for cops on the take or those who've descended to framing suspects or using unnecessary force.

---

That isn't all Kyriotates do. There's Kyriotates of War, Flowers, Trade, Lightning, Fire, Children. The Archangel of Animals is one. You name it, they do it, so it's not so much that they work as Heaven's Internal Affairs, it's just this particular Kyriotate works for Dominic, who is in charge of that department.
Chris' annoyance comes not only from this one's job being a professional prick, but since Kyriotates distinguishing feature is being able to possess multiple hosts at the same time, it makes them weird to talk to. They're the most alien choir of angels to us meaty flesh sack mortals. And at this point, and this is my impression, Chris is still getting used to him being a divinity and how it all fits together.---------------
-Jon
Being the Mariner hitting coach is like being the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.
-Poster on USSMariner.com
---
Jon
"And that must have caused my dad's brain to break in half, replaced by a purely mechanical engine of revenge!"

[jpub]

Exactly.
Paradox still *thinks* like a mortal. Getting his mind around the fact that there's a celestial being as...diffuse as a Kyriotate is a problem for him.
But then, Paradox has issues with most members of the Celestial Choir. Winged mammals? Burning Wheels? *Real* Androgynous wonders? Winged Snakes with *7* eyes? They is some whacky shit, bro. --
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?"

[Valles]

...I have to think that it's probably a good thing he's yet to meet a djinn, then.
OTOH, I like the idea of a feather-winged octopus too much to limit my mental images of cherubs to mammals. ^_^
Ja, -n
(could've sworn seraphs had six eyes...)

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

[Vulpis]

A feather-winged octopus? Given the locale, that sounds like something Bell would impale on a stick and then fry into a tasty snack.

You know, I just had a truly, truly evil thought. Both Skuld and Urd have their means to release their anger, frustration, and negative emotions. Bell...just seems to tuck it all away into a little corner, much the same as Kasumi Tendo.
The trio may still be goddesses, and have divine powers (and in Bell's case, culinary skills. ;-) ), but since moving in with Keichi they've fundamentally taken on mostly mortal forms..with, among other things, mortal biological processes (hunger, thirst, hangovers, and other things...)--though they're probably able to slow down or suspend them to a great extent.
Putting that all together...just imagine Belldandy--and That Time of the Century. ;-)

[Bob Schroeck]

---

(could've sworn seraphs had six eyes...)

---

They do. I think Chris might be remembering the version of Archangel Dominic from EPU's Neon Exodus Evangelion: Apotheosis Now.

-- Bob
---------
The Internet Is For Norns.