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The irony of the situation is that this is kind of the same thing that happened back in 2008 when I read Whore of Heaven, got all depressed and wrote to JayDee asking if I could write what, ten years later, would become The Woman in the Statue. I literally asked if WoH was intended as an anti-religion piece, not because I was mad, but because I didn’t want to write a sequel that would contradict the original story’s message.

Thank you! I suppose now is as good a time as any to bring up some of the names of the characters. Not everyone’s name means something of course, but some of them do. Kevin is derived (eventually) from the old Irish name Cóemgein, which starts with the Gaelic word cóem, which means “kind” or “gentle”. He has some issues, including the odd flash of anger, but he’s very gentle with Luzurial. Abdul is kind of a cheat, in that it’s a Pakistani name derived from the Arabic words Abd al, which just mean “servant of the”, but I was kind of going for a reference to the Arabic name Abd Allah, or “servant of God”. Sirki is a Pakistani name referring to a leather worker, which means it’s kind of the equivalent of “Tanner” or something. Chloe is an English name meaning “green shoot” in Greek. ‘Cause, you know...she’s new. Liu is a Chinese surname meaning “kill” or “destroy”, which sounds pretty bad, but it fits her role on what is basically a preternatural SWAT team. Luzurial, according to JayDee, is derived from the Spanish luz, meaning light, as well as a deliberately misspelled version of the Archangel Uriel’s name. It’s good that it’s misspelled, since Uriel translates from the Hebrew as “light of God” (or possibly “God is my light”), so Luzuriel would be kind of redundant. Well, she’s far more resilient than a human would be, and she’s definitely doing amazingly well considering what she’s been through, but there will be issues, which will become rather obvious in Part Three. I should note that she’s healing far more slowly than she used to. I tried to base as much of The Woman in the Statue as possible on what we saw in Whore of Heaven, and one of the things I noticed was that Luzurial’s healing, along things like her durability and strength, are affected by her mental and emotional state. There’s a baseline, of course (she doesn’t just stop healing at any point), but given her trauma, what would in the past have healed in less than a minute instead takes hours. Obviously, as she gets better, that will accelerate. That also owes its genesis to Whore of Heaven, where it’s mentioned that humanity went forth with new knowledge of and defenses against, but also new dealings with, the forces of Hell, so I figured some criminals might attempt to make deals with demons, and a branch of law enforcement would arise to deal with that. There’s actually a deleted scene (as in I literally wrote it and then deleted it because I didn’t think it was necessary) in Part Eight where Luzurial is part of a briefing and a National Guard soldier pulls a “And where were you for the last seventy five years?” at which point Chloe tells him exactly where Luzurial was for the last 75 years. Cue guilt trip. Chloe: Listen, Major Dumbass… Major: It’s “Dumas.” Chloe: Not right now it isn’t. Well thank you so much for the review! I basically wrote this to help me feel better after reading Whore of Heaven all those years ago (JayDee can tell you all about it, but I tend to call this story “my little therapy project”), and I had no idea how it would go over here, so thank you for the support!

Don’t feel bad about not responding to that first review. I still haven’t gotten around to reading and reviewing Chapter 2, and it’s been a month! Oh, and I realize you guys were discussing this earlier, but if I may offer my two cents here… First, on behalf of religious people, I’m sorry for any unpleasant experiences you’ve had. I know this doesn’t make up for it, but know that we’re not all dicks. So, on Luzurial’s suffering being her reason for existing, I don’t know that that’s clear. Cars eventually break down, and the manufacturer knows this will inevitably happen, but that’s not why the car is made. Luzurial is mentioned as being valued for her wisdom and having distinguished herself in battle, so she has touched the lives of her fellow angels and protected the universe (or at least the Earth) before, and I don’t see any reason that couldn’t be her purpose. Her rape and torture are things that happen to her, but it doesn’t seem right (to me, anyway) to imagine she exists specifically to be raped and tortured. With regards to divine omniscience, what pippychick describes is a valid criticism of the deterministic interpretation (the future is set in stone), but there is another way to look at it. A vital part of Christian dogma, and I think it also applies to Judaism and Islam, is that humans (and any other forms of sapient life that may exist) have free will, the ability to choose. God is believed to value free will so intensely that He allows it even though many make the choice to do terrible things, so I’ve never been comfortable with determinism, which removes free will from the equation. Another interpretation, however, is that omniscience means that God knows every possible outcome, all of the billions of billions of possible futures made by all the interacting choices of billions of sapient individuals. However, while all the possible results of all our possible choices may be seen, at the critical inflection point, our choices matter. In other words, it’s not “these horrible things will happen,” but rather “these horrible things may happen, but the choice is yours.” Bringing this back to Whore of Heaven, God would know all the outcomes of everyone’s possible choices, including the chain of events based on the choices made (Luzurial’s choice to intervene, her choice to help the survivors, her choice to try to talk to Eparlegna, her choice to try to spare the caged women, his choice to torture her, Shondra and Molly’s choice to serve him, etc.). All of these things are known ahead of time, but they are not fate; until the choices are made, they are only possible outcomes. Or, to put it way more simply, the future is foreseen, but it is not foregone. I hope I haven’t annoyed or offended either of you. I’ve told JayDee about this elsewhere, but I don’t have anything against atheists. In fact, randomly enough, most of my friends in high school were atheists, and now it’s a fairly even mix. I don’t think you’re getting in trouble for not believing in God. Honestly, I think that what really matters is that you live your life trying to do what you genuinely believe to be right. Again, no offense was intended, pippychick, and I hope I haven’t irritated you. I’m not trying to convert anyone; I just wanted to discuss another potential way of looking at the omniscience idea.

Ahh… that was you! Thank you. I still need to make time for responding to reviews that have come in while I’ve been somewhat distracted. I will, though! @InBrightestDay As I said above, the great thing about all of this is that we can speculate, and explore, and I’m awfully curious to see how you’ve saved her, and what her reactions are like to that. How damaged is she? See just thinking and talking about it whets my appetite to read your story

The best villains are this way. Though it’s not always easy to write them. You did a great job. Of course I fancy seeing it! The greatest thing about fiction and fanfiction is that there’s always a different path to go down, and we can look at them all, and ooh and ahh at different interpretations and fresh angles. Yesss… I’ve been told that before. Unfortunately, when I was made someone forgot to adjust the optimism, or, you know, include it at all. lol… I find writing harsh things like this does take a toll. It’s hard work, and it’s largely thankless. But you can only write the horror properly if you feel it, just like anything else. (smirks) To be fair, she’s probably not right wing enough… Ha, that would be interesting. For what it’s worth, it’s a bit more violent, more pornographic, and is sprinkled with a liberal amount of swearing (courtesy of Clegane). Thanks. Honestly, it feels great to settle back down. Your midwife story was the first thing I went to

See? SEE? I fucking stand by that. Part 6 is great! First comes the hurt, then comes the comfort. It really fuckin’ works. And it’s a great damn image you have here. Taking a kind a half-assed Whore of Heaven concept and really making it work! I probably still have had more in to set the scene. I mean, I dunno her most badass moment is probably taking so many lashes before she starts screaming. Here and in the last part, she comes across as a proper badass. I don’t really remember, but it’s a story about an X-Wing pilot being tortured and killed by a haunted spaceship. There’s wires getting into eyesockets. It’s just grimdark edginess really, but I was doing my best to write something Deathstalker would enjoy… I may even have succeeded. Was a long time ago. Unfortunately the review in question asking if I felt gross was back before I responded to ‘em on the forums so I can’t look back at what I thought at the time. He’s a nice dude! Oh, yeah. I sometimes forget some of the tropes. There’s a trope for that too, I expect. Cheerfully corrected! I’m glad it stayed in, I think it worked! This kind of “What a total bastardry” at least will make it even more satisfying when they do beat his ass. He put himself between Eparlegna and her. He’s special alright :p I kid! I kid! I’ve said it’s a great ending already and I stick by it. Fucking awesome!

I don’t even know what the original story’s message was… “Really shitty things happen to good people,” maybe? That certainly happens in the sequel so you keep it running!

Blood on the Hay got a review! Thank you for the review! Absolutely see where you’re coming from – with the flashfic/1000 word prompt stories sometimes it was possible to tell a proper story in the short bursts and sometimes, well, it comes across more like a fragment. I can totally see it here – similar issue with the end of part 2, in that I wrote what I had for 1000 words but there isn’t really a full finish, just the dude realising that Jeb was a piece of shit and there ain’t a lot more to say – but conflict can always add more, a bit of a driving force to things. One way to have it would be to have the trio checking out the bloody barn and getting caught by the lawfolk coming back. And when the Slumber-verse characters appear in the next story chronologically, Kate’s back part of the pack and they never seem to speak of it again. I really need to write a third concluding part to cover it all off, tie things up. One of these days, maybe. Thanks again! I appreciate your time in reading and reviewing.

No apology required! You’re all adults, you can have different opinions over things in this thread as anywhere! Forum mods would have the final say mind :p She didn’t have left or right wing by the time Eparlegna was done with her! [/tasteless joke]

Thank you, swirlingdoubt – I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much, InBrightestDay! Ah, well, I don’t want to say too much in case I spoil the second chapter for you. But when/if you read, I hope you enjoy it and that it makes sense. And thank you for the compliment! I must admit, I paid close attention to some of my phrasing and word choices in this fic, because it added to the atmosphere, and I was hoping to make suggestions without the reader being fully aware of it. For example, “... once she'd hacked a couple of feet off the bottom of it.” was supposed to give you a specific literal mental image, even if your conscious mind rejects it immediately as incorrect. It was still there… hopefully.

Thank you so much, JayDee! I remember writing this, and I really wanted to add description and atmosphere, but the word cound wouldn’t permit it. It was definitely good practice, though, and I’m glad I came out with something that works.

Oh, I really haven’t! Some of my best friends, etc… I’m actually involved with things at my local church, because of community stuff. I’m not saying at all that others shouldn’t believe – I just don’t share it. If I had to believe in something, honestly I’m closer to being some kind of pagan than anything because it appeals to me on some deep level I can’t explain. The great majority of the time though, I am an atheist. I’m not trying to get into an argument here, but Ah. Apologies, but there it is. There can be no justification for some things. I’m not talking of anything that has happened to me. I’m not referring to “ordinary human unhappiness” or even its twin. Throughout the course of our history there are things so absolute and terrible that they only way they can be explained is if there is no God. Sorry, but that is the conclusion I have come to after many years. Also, free will tends to let capitalism off the hook, and I don’t believe we should do that either. Most of us live at the expense of others. If I live without God, then ethically I should strive to encourage the best world possible. Then there are the animals. Humanity has an overinflated sense of itself. Fear, terror, pain and suffering are not exclusive to our species. Nor is comfort. Any knowledge I may think I have doesn’t make me “worth more than many sparrows” – that’s just pure egotism. It makes me responsible, but that’s a different thing entirely, and I fail far too often (I mean, I still eat meat and there can’t be any justification for that, not now). I’m so sorry, I don’t mean to offend anyone with these thoughts. If there is any rule at all, it should probably be: believe in what you love and be happy. I believe in fic. Likewise. @JayDee Sorry to have derailed this thread and gone so far OT. Luzurial’s fate did prompt this discussion, though, so I’m blaming you…

Uh...yes! Yes, that was the plan all along! It was totally me saving it for a future chapter, and not a good idea I’m going to steal now and put into a future chapter! Just kidding; I’ll definitely give you credit for that. Obviously, Kevin and Luzurial are the story’s Official Couple, and I wanted that to feel like the relationship had actually developed over time. Part Six here is one place where that definitely comes to the fore. They’ll be spending a few days at the motel in the next chapter, and as one might expect, things will progress further. Thanks! Abdul and Calista definitely did some MacGyvering to defeat the Charnel Spider, and I was worried that Kevin just baiting the Wrath creature into killing itself would be kind of an anticlimax, but as you said, it does take into account that since the creature is all mindless rage, it should be fairly easy to trick. I hadn’t thought of that specifically, but there was definitely supposed to be some comedy to the elevator bit, what with everyone but Luzurial pushing the Down button and the doors just refusing to close. And yeah, it would have been really funny if Eparlegna had managed to get into the shaft and cut the cable...only to discover that things have changed a little in the last three quarters of a century.

...D’oh. To be fair, I just do promo’ing, what happens afterwards comes down to the reader! Also, neat review. And the ending might not be what you expect. Yeah, but pissing readers off is basically my brand. There’s an old flames thread where I’d copy and paste the flames I got for my godawful Firefly fanfic ‘fore they had to be deleted in line with site rules. I used to get emails urging me to die in a fire. Those were the days.

The road back starts when you realize what your mind is telling you and what everyone else telling you are so different that they cannot be reconciled. Kevin in a sense sees her in a manner similar to that of her creator. Its really a profound moment when she sees what she had allowed herself to forget. That a human of all things helped plant her feet on the road back. An interesting note on Wrath. Eparlegna is saying without meaning to is that Kevin is scared. Because at the root of lashing out is panic and anxiety and primal fear. A potent flammable cocktail so easy to set a flame. Well to be fair. Dead Space 3 had nowhere else it could go. Brethern moons harvesting earth and all. It wasn’t like it there would be some last second rescue. Issac got tentacled in the end. lol.

Well, I’m back, and I may even be writing again. I’m not going to say what’s been happening, because that would just bore you all – and me. Suffice to say I suspected it before, but now I know that Hell is dually purposed as a carpet shop. You’ll finally realise how many rugs you’re standing on when cackling demons start pulling them from under your feet. Something is off with the universe lately, but perhaps it’s settling itself. Except, there’s Brexit to look forward to. Of all the things I hate, I hate that I’ve become one of those insane people who keep shelves full of bottled water… just in case. All we need is a second referendum, then the people of this country will vote ‘No Deal’ like lambs to the slaughter. Ah, well. For as long as it’s possible, I may as well potter about in my own AU’s.