#zaph

firstly! track 3 on the masterpost is catagorized under zaphkiel as well, but is explained in my previous post, this is because even though it pertains to zaphkiel, I feel it sits better with the other "introductory" tracks

we're having that color text problem thing again. sigh. too lazy to go into HTML and fix it..

4. Stalkers Tango

[Verse 1] I know, I know, I know, this situation's strange It takes a little getting A little getting used to

[Pre-Chorus] Love me, love me, love me, love me Love me, love me, love me, love me Love me, love me, love me, love me more Than you possibly can

I like to imagine this section relates to zaphkiel beginning to really feel the new role he's chosen for himself, as god.

[Chorus] It's not that complicated No matter what they say You'll never meet another me It's not that difficult To get your head around You'll never meet another me You'll never, never, ever, never, ever meet another me

Abram incoming. (for this section, somewhat amusing to imagine zaphkiel singing/serenading to elsens or zone guardians even.)

also at this point, its interesting to imagine a...sort of squishy malluable abram observing and learning from zaphkiels behavior.

[Verse 2] I know, I know, I know, I'm always in your place But don't you see, my dear? I am your doppelganger, I have your face so

At this point, I think Abram joins in, of course his appearance is based on Zaphkiels, I always assumed it was out of admiration for what a wonderful person he was (or. posited himself as?) and thusly once he became a person too, he wanted to be a good person like Zaph has presented himself as.

At this point the pre-chorus and chorus Repeat.

I think this time, it's Abram singing to Zaphkiel, though not in a contesting way (Zaphkiel would. assume that it is though) as he brings Arbela to life and creates his own new friends.

[Interlude]

I can't lie. Very fun to imagine Abram inviting Zaphkiel to do a tango with him during this interlude, Zaphkiel viewing the invitation as a challenge while Abram sees it as peace being made between the two of them.

[Outro] It's not that complicated No matter what they say I'll never meet another you It's not that difficult To get my head around I'll never meet another you

Zaphkiel is bitter, Jealous, and perhaps, deep deep down a little afraid of what Abram can do. His insecurity leads to him beginning to dream of ways he could be more powerful.

5. The Enigma of Heaven: 9,999,999 Channels, Finding Faith in White Noise… the God Stimulation!

Instrumental track! I imagine this is representative of zaphkiel building his church, and spreading his doctrine around slowly but surely. He justifys the church to be a project of morale, something to help unify people. Abram thinks it's not a bad idea, it can be good for people to learn about the past after all (At this points, zaphkiel does not center himself in the religion)

6. ROT FOR CLOUT

[Verse 1] Watch the blood get spilled You can kill, or you can be killed It doesn't really matter what I feel I would rather fake than make the pain real Oh, take that smirk, wipe it off your face Oh, you would do the same shit if it let you change your fate If life is nothing but an endless race You bet your ass I'm getting first place

Zaphkiel grows more bitter toward Abram and the guardians as their city prospers. Until he finds the queen.

[Pre-Chorus] Please, somebody, get me out of here Please, somebody, won't you get me out of here, oh You can get me out of here (Go!)

internal monolog as he begins to speak to the queen more frequently, and begins to manipulate her into sending specters.

[Chorus] Yep, that's right, let your dreams take flight Watch the line go up, line go up, up, up, up, up, up Until it breaks right through, blows a hole through you You can fill it up, fill it up, fi-fi-fill it up And all the meat will slide off the bone, so nice You can eat it up, eat it up, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat Until you're full of life, it's a goddamn vibe Baby, fuck it up, fuck it up, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck Oh, we can fuck until the sun burns out We can rot for clout

As the war begins to take shape properly, Zaphkiel feels a horrible sense of pride. Seeing the denizens of Arbella occasionally begin to fall prey to specters, It's a sick kind of satisfaction. This emboldens him to begin spreading the hands of the church wider, welcoming those who are afraid to come in and be safe with him.

[Verse 2] Die upon your hill I live apart from love and goodwill And when the pain comes calling for my head Yeah, I would rather hurt than be happy and dead Oh, fuck your frown, baby, spare your grace Now I'm wearing my crown, perfect framing of my face All the detail surgically replaced It's a crying shame, a pathetic disgrace

Now with Abrams attention divided on the war, Zaphkiel has begun to be more insidious with how his church "helps" people, and what their doctrine is. More focus on him being their savior, their protector. He knows what he's doing on some level is manipulative, but it's for a good cause. It's the only cause that could be worth it. Seeing the District gaurdian's suffer doesn't exactly make him happy, but it does make him feel some kind of retribution that these additions to his world won't be around much longer. He begins to posit himself as less human, more divine. This in turn makes him begin to feel a gnawing insecurity, because he cannot forget who he was made by, and what he was made for. Does this go against the role of a caretaker, a companion? It doesn't matter.

[Pre-Chorus] Please, somebody, get me out of here Please, somebody, won't you get me out of here, oh I'm not getting out of here

He is feeling disdain for those around him, he's seeing the queen more and more often, less and less careful about hiding it. It's only a matter of time until someone will notice.

[Chorus] Heh, that's right, let your dreams take flight Watch the line go up, line go up, up, up, up, up, up Until it breaks right through, blows a hole through you You can fill it up, fill it up, fi-fi-fill it up And all the meat deep-fried, with a garnish and side You can eat it up, eat it up, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat Until you're full of life, on the edge of the knife Baby, cut it up, cut it up, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck it

Zaphkiel begins to push the queen to send more specters, he hides it well. But he is desperate to see the end of this world. He's been dreaming of a world that is perfect. a world that lives up to his- or his creators vision.

[Post-Chorus] Oh, God, a waking nightmare I live a life so hollow that I'm not even there Oh, God, the light won't save me Oh, I'm a perfect tempered instrument and life is gonna play me Come and fuck me 'til the sun burns out And I rot for—

Zaphkiel is driven to more deceit as his envy and pride begin to eat away at any happiness his church was bringing him. He can't stop thinking about how wrong this world is. How easily he could fix it, and make it better.

it would be at this point Adam and Abram find him speaking with the queen.

[Bridge] Maybe not a single real reason My blood's already out of season So unwanted, even by myself Tell me, what the hell? What the hell? I don't like what's at my core Pray to God to fix my soul But I don't need God's forgiveness I need yours

speaking to the player, though most of this would be internal. Zaphkiel grappling with the insecurity of not being powerful enough to make anything his own, or realize his vision. Especially now with the corruption turning the world into an unrecognizable mass of pain and suffering.

He has to call for help.

He has to call for you.

[Chorus] Heh, that's right, let your dreams take flight Watch the line go up, line go up, up, up, up, up, up Until it breaks right through, blows a hole through you You can fill it up, fill it up, fi-fi-fill it up And all the meat shall grind into pretty pink slime You can eat it up, eat it up, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat Until you're full of life, cut yourself up with the knife Baby, cut it up, cut it up, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck it

This is more abstract imagery, Zaphkiel watching the batter, next to the player, but never looking at the player. He's only focused on the conduit for his plan. He feeds you and the batter lies (pretty pink slime!) in the hopes that you will fulfill his wishes.

[Post-Chorus] Oh, God, a waking nightmare I live a life so miserable, it isn't fair Oh, God, the light won't save me So let the Anthropocene watch me going fucking crazy Come and fuck me 'til the sun burns out And I rot for clout

Zaphkiel rolling in self pity (in the event that you don't listen to him!)

He realizes that everything he made in Arbela, all the things he tried to control. amounts to nothing. He wasn't strong enough to control you, he isn't a god at all compared to the player.

6. The Main Character

I'm that first person they talk about in all the books I'm that perspective you cannot doubt, see how I look Control the narrative reliably, baby, it's all about me And I wrote the book about throwing the book at those who don't do it by it

Okay. lets get this out of the way right now. I have an INCREDIBLY FUN TIME. imagining this as a musical stage production style number that zaph is doing with his little church freaks. with like a little straw boater hat, pinstripe suit, and a cane.

Anyway. Zaphkiel is the literal first person of the new world. This song is about how he posits himself to his church and the player. He manipulates what you do and do not get to see and read at first to lure you into his web of lies.

[Pre-Chorus] So now I'm holding myself hostage, Stockholm lust just looks like justice And enough lefts don't make the right but two wrongs do Oh man, Sun Tzu would love this!

Zaphkiel is doing everyone a favor by keeping himself in the tower/the church. His word is the only one worth following.

Two wrongs make a right (awakening the batter for his selfish purposes), and clearly zaphkiel has never read the art of war, or else he would know one who goes looking for battles and strife is the most foolish of them all.

Beating my dead high horse off the high road to low ground 'Cause if you shake your fist at snakes in grass It looks like punching down

Zaphkiel is constantly positing himself as the morally pure option, despite what nay-sayers think, those snakes (...you can guess who) in the grass had it coming to them.

[Chorus] So God forbid I'm seen just as an average human being I mean, imagine if protagonists just died in the first scene I'm the gap between a tragedy and comedy Don't come at me I'm the main character and you have to like me

What a horrible world it would be if zaphkiel hadn't survived the initial purification of his world. How would things ever come to be without him being such a kind and generous god? How could you NOT love him??

the level of defensiveness speaks to the childishness of zaphkiels actions throughout the story.

[Verse 2] I loot plot armor from NPC’s Well, they are to me Trite tropes, traits, traumas, trinkets, and treats; it's all XP

In a literal sense he would be refering to the grand items here, but on a less literal level I think zaphkiel considers all the "strife" he's suffered as important to the foundation of his church and getting what he deserves in the end. The more he suffers through, the more he will be owed in time...!

Look in the sky, it's a bird! It’s a plane! No, it's superego! The underdog you cheer for Villains are everywhere, that's how I know that I'm the hero

Superego can be read as both the concept of the "superego"

and also as super-ego (I choose to interpret that for the sake of this character, as having a heroic ego. of course the double entendre of him being so full of himself he might as well be a blackhole isn't lost on me) In both Instances zaphkiel posits himself as the underdog. the part that is acting for truth and purity of what "should be" or what he has been taught is right

Villains ARE everywhere, when you're Zaphkiel. Your church is quite literally surrounded by them, each district is an enemy to his perfect world.

[Pre-Chorus] So tie me to the train tracks, laugh and snidely twist your mustache Snidely Whiplash, Boris Badenov, ignoring me's bad enough Where do you get off? Da, das vedanya, darling Daleks in high collars monologue and I outsmart them with a ray-gun and a tweet

Abstract ideas, zaphkiel playing the victim, the savior who fights off the evil serpent, and protects all those who are deserving of being saved. He is above all others in grace and intelligence though, they can't get him down!

[Chorus]

Imagining the tone as slightly more defensive here, as if the player is questioning his divinity

[Pre-Chorus] Judge me by what my cover shows, author becomes beyond reproach You don't know the prose or if the spine is still intact

zaphkiel demands to be judged by what he has presented himself, and he is above criticism

Oh, like Alice fell to Wonderland, come astroturf my Overton And embolden my demand to live by alternative facts

the "overton window" is the idea of what subjects are politically acceptable for the general public at any given time, the window shifting as culture does. Astro-turf is both a play on the idea of grassroots politics and the literal fake grass. Zaphkiel plasters over what is acceptable with his own artificial ideas of what is right and wrong (alternative facts!)

[Bridge] Her majesty says "The Royal We demand a standard of loyalty An agreement to be reverent, lick the emperor's new boots."

this combines the idea of worshipping royalty, with the story "the emperors new clothes. I wont explain the symbolism of that story here as thats a lot of work! but! essentially zaphkiel is reveling in the authory that he has built himself, the accolytes he has collected, even if that authority isn't actually built on reality. It doesn't matter, because these people who worship him believe he is god.

The court fool got the guillotine, the witches the stake, you the dopamine And Siemens made the Zyklon B but we all still get the flu We all do what we need to to get through (It’s nothing new) But I ain't done a fucking thing to you!

the court fool in this situation could be lugosi in blue route? shrug. witches are abrams guardians.

Zaphkiel justifies his acts of manipulation, as the means to his end, and he doesn't understand why the player/the batter would turn their back on him because he's never hurt them

[Chorus] So God forbid I'm seen just as an average human being I mean imagine if antagonists lacked any evil scheme I'm the gap between a tragedy and comedy Don't come at me I'm the main character and you have to like me

Zaphkiel laughs at the idea of being a villain, but still leans into the role of the antagonist once he gets what he wants. Despite the fact he knows the player sees him as "the bad buy" he knows the story wouldn't be as interesting without him.

8. Only One Kind of Night

this one I dont have specific calls to the narrative, besides the fact I imagine this song at the end of a successful blue route. Zaphkiel is the night, erasing all the different kinds of light, under his own soothing umbrella of darkness.