Facebook image (8/25: They're Waiting)

[Sean (@TheGilded)Moderator]

Two women in The Warehouse, black hair. Have we ever seen these women before? They don’t look familiar to me, but I’m no good with faces

[Addison BornParticipant]

I don’t think we’ve seen em.. but they could be Attendants? Younger than the usual OOA crowd, white dresses.

[Sean (@TheGilded)Moderator]

Something about them seems more… human than most attendants we’ve met so far. I’d sooner believe that they, or at least one of them, are Disciples

[MelissaModerator]

I just hope this has relevancy (in other words, not just for ticket sales) because I see this as exploitation of young women in a very intimate pose.

[MelissaModerator]

Additional thoughts:

-Twins?
-What is the woman (the one looking up) looking at?
-Neon sign looks pretty effing amazing

[AH-layParticipant]

You said “Twins” and it made me think of the old “Addison has a twin” theory.

[Susie JParticipant]

I met two young ladies during my appointment last Friday. They looked very similar and were introduced as “handmaidens.” They were visually intimidating but in word and deed very sweet and caring.

Judging from the recent images released on FB I can say these variables are glimpses into our future and not just conceptual window dressing.

[MelissaModerator]

Flashbacks to The Handmaiden’s Tale when you mentioned these ladies potential role and shuddered (the movie butchered the shit out of the book). Anyhow, that’s interesting @monkeymuffin333, we’ll just have to see if we encounter these women on our journey.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by  Melissa. Reason: I do words good

[Iris HalliwellParticipant]

I don’t know how I feel about this. It kind of seems like they’re trying to use sexual imagery to incite interest into the event. That’s never what Tension has been about. They have always been about the creepy factor, or enlightenment. I expected them to ramp up their advertising as we led up to the event, but not like this. If I wanted to see a Nickelback album cover, I would have looked in the discount bin at Best Buy…

[AH-layParticipant]

IRIS! You have expressed my emotions about the image perfectly, I am glad I am not the only one. It is rather different from what we’ve seen so far. If it had been like this since the beginning, it wouldn’t have surprised me, but seeing it now feels odd and out of place to me.

[MouseParticipant]

Interesting – Although the two models are in the the picture are attractive the picture doesn’t seem sexual to me. To me it screams “vulnerable”. In a strange way it captures how I am starting to feel about going to Ascension this week. For a couple of hours, on Thursday I will be the one who will be vulnerable, nervous and perhaps a bit scared.

IMHO I really like the picture!

[Sean (@TheGilded)Moderator]

I’m not sure I agree regarding the exploitation angle. If I’m right, we’ve never seen these people before and it’s a very quick way to relate to us that they clearly care about each other.

The pose suggests one of a sister-level emotional bond, which will likely be a source of conflict in the event that any of us meet these two.

[MelissaModerator]

I can see your point but I think @irishalliwell120 hits the nail on the head. We haven’t seen Tension go down the artsy indie-rock album cover feel, it’s always been creepy/suppose to create tension. We won’t know what is the intention until it actually happens but this advert “vibe” is way different than others and threw me off. That said I also won’t lose sleep over it.

[Sean (@TheGilded)Moderator]

I absolutely agree but I suspect that this was done intentionally. Everything so far has had an ominous feel to it, implying that something aren’t meant to be trusted. The OOA, Attendants, Anoch’s Words, all of it has felt “wrong”.

This is among the first things that we’ve seen that doesn’t carry that same connotation, which implies that this bond between these two is more pure than everything else that we’ve seen.

I believe that the fact that this has no creepiness emphasizes the importance of these two

[DimStyleParticipant]

They look more like they are comforting each other…like they have seen something bad or disturbing.

[AH-layParticipant]

I see it more as them being comfortable with each other, I don’t see any fear in them.

[RustyParticipant]

Personally, I do get a foreboding feeling from this. The way one is looking above… searching for threats? The one looking toward camera does not seem friendly or welcoming, but instead seems fearful or aggressive to me. The setting around them is one of deconstruction, perhaps, which certainly fits thematically with what is going on right now. The identical clothing indicates a connection in society or position, perhaps?

[MelissaModerator]

The woman looking right into the camera has that “she’s mine” kinda vibe to me.

[AmieParticipant]

I have to say for me personally this doesn’t feel exploitative at all (in a sexual sense), and while the imagery is quite different from what we’ve seen I’m not that surprised by it. This reminds me of the young women we read about in Addison’s journal, the Attendants. I could very well be way off base but that’s what I’m getting from it. Had I not known about the journal it still doesn’t come across to me that way, but I certainly understand everyone sees things differently.

[_Michael GrayParticipant]

I think I’ve seen this album cover somewhere before…

[TheCreatorKeymaster]

Has no trust been earned on this journey so far?

Nothing is random, and something always lurks beneath every surface including those that some may view as shallower than others.

In time, you too will see their light.

[MelissaModerator]

With all due respect, @thecreator, there has been multiple times where trust has been violated. Not in a way that made me want to go home and cry in the shower but definitely on a level that stripped away some (not all) trust between participant and whatever-this-is runners/characters.

But as @monkeymuffin333 already pointed out, sounds like there is purpose with the newest advert, great. Looking forward to seeing how this seed with sprout.

[AmieParticipant]

@thecreator Another perspective, you have my trust.

I think we should all think about this as we are getting closer to Ascension, we’ve had hiccups along the way and I’m sure everyone can agree with that but I feel like we are at a point now that we really need to think about how critical we are of this experience. This isn’t to say that people aren’t entitled to their opinion, because everyone definitely is! We are so close though, and I know I’m not the only one who has loved this experience. I wouldn’t change anything. I think we owe them this, for as much as they’ve given us, to give them back some trust and to let this play out how it will. One of the constants since the beginning, Nothing is random. We might forget that sometimes.

[Kimberly @ElectricHippoParticipant]

@amieexists: Very well stated <3

@thecreator: You have earned my trust in all the ways that matter most. I look forward to discovering what is around the bend.

[creepsocietyParticipant]

What Amie said ❤️

[Sean (@TheGilded)Moderator]

I retain faith for the journey.

But it’s the fact that nothing is random and the fact that I do not trust the OOA that I wanted to bring this topic up. This picture suggests that these two women care about each other, in one way or another. This picture is also done in a starkly different style than other Tension media, suggesting emphasis.

I’m just concerned that we’re going to see another family torn apart by the Cult of the OOA

[TinNoseParticipant]

_deleted_

• This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by  TinNose.

[DaelaParticipant]

Um.

[MelissaModerator]

Not cool dude.

[Addison BornParticipant]

dude not cool

[_Michael GrayParticipant]

I’m just one person here, but this feels like crossing the line.

[TinNoseParticipant]

OKAY OKAY — not cool. deleted.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by  TinNose.

[creepsocietyParticipant]

No fucking shit. Get outta here with those bullshit comments.

[DimStyleParticipant]

Revisiting the image… What do we see?

The OOA “illuminated”. Two women (of questionable expressions based on group input). Those two women are “stripped” down (maybe shedding the old) and what they are left in is white (maybe purity, truth, light).

They are sitting on a pile the looks to be knocked down wood stud walls… Much like you would find in a house… Or a stage maybe

To the far right it looks like 2 candles (in one found in a church) , not lit.

Anything else?

[MelissaModerator]

I see red and white planks of wood behind the neon sign, which is kinda interesting contrast and seems purposeful. I like the symbolic “broken house” you planted there @dimstyle. Kinda like, this house (the OOA) just fell apart, this is what remains (the women which may represent purity?).

[DimStyleParticipant]

Going back to the picture before… The woman sitting at a desk. All white. Also, I never said before, but did you notice in that all white picture there looks like a stylized doll head, just to the left laying in a puddle of blood? Also, just before the hash tag it reads “III weeks”. Why the Roman numeral (like gatekeeperIII) and not a normal 3 or three?

[Susie JParticipant]

I still think that is a webcam on a red stand made to look like feet. And I do think the “III Weeks” is a nod to GK III. All these elements are coming together in this massive complex and we are hurtling toward the catalyst which will bring about ….. Something.

For now, since I’m in the bathroom at work, I just want to touch on the constant juxtaposition of white and red. White is the exterior, civil, smiling face of the OOA and red is the sanctum sanctorum Red Room, where things happen of such a nature that it is only whispered and shuddered about – or in @thebuz‘s case, it is so transformative there are no words to quantify it. Is it Truth? Is it Horror? Is it both? Is it a bowl of melon balls that are really vessels for the souls of the damned? Is it an asthmatic guinea pig neurotically ringing a toy bell in a pattern of three-four?

• This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by  Susie J. Reason: Sassage fingers

[Susie JParticipant]

I am a quiescent cupcake placidly sitting on a sparkly plate of trust. For all that I’ve been party to and part of, I am unabashedly willing to cast myself into the currents designed for us.

[Andrew KaschParticipant]

Good Lord. This is like reading blog reactions to a blurry frame grab from a Star Wars teaser.

[Sean (@TheGilded)Moderator]

Better rampant, incorrect speculation than a silent forum, eh?

[Andrew KaschParticipant]

I like the speculation. But hate passing judgement on things that have no context.

[Sean (@TheGilded)Moderator]

Fair enough. While I don’t agree with some of the judgments made, we can’t stop people from having them. Further, I do believe that it’s best that people get them out in the open rather than stewing silently in them.

[Susie JParticipant]

There’s a non-zero probability that it’s a neurotic Guinea pig. 😐

[Anonymous]

How can we be sure?

[Susie JParticipant]

Statistics.

[BlondieParticipant]

Had a couple of thoughts about this today:

1) the more I thought about the image being sexual or exploitative, the more I could see where people were coming from. But I’ve figured it out. It’s very Tatu-esque. Totally unintentional but I think that’s why we attribute a slight fetishistic element to it… Personally, the image is really growing on me and I’d love to frame a print of it for my study

2) this is the first “different” thing that has cropped up in Tension since the diary. We’ve had tonnes of periscopes. But they’re fleeting and (with the utmost respect) repetitive in terms of what they are trying to achieve. So we seized on this because it was intriguing and emotive. It’s a sign that we are still hungry for answers and that is only a good thing in my opinion.

[Author]

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