CD-TLC03 (Nov 3, 2023)
Puzzle
“Thorough flood, thorough fire.”
Knowledge | 3 Words
Clue
Hover over the clues if you require!
Clue 1: Which play by Shakespeare is this from?
Clue 2: Anything else in CaD that quotes from this? 'Think but this and all is mended...'
Clue 3: When he comes, he comes to correct. Sound familiar?
Clue 4: Look at CD-ASC03 in Twice Third Temple. What does Jean describe himself as?
Answer and Explanation
Answer: An Honest Other
Explanation: The Final Note's last paragraph (CD-ASC03) is a reference to A Midsummer Night's Dream, which the puzzle is also from. In it, Jean-Marc calls himself 'an honest other'.
Summary of Receipt
Summary
Transcript
Receipt: CD-TLC03
Author: Jennifer
Status: Cafe Diner
Subject: Bingo Cult
Unfortunately, Jericho is right. Jean-Marc’s time as the Otherman warped his perception of time, love, loss, and death irreparably. I’m not sure how long this has been his plan. It could’ve been from the very start, though I don’t believe that’s the case. At least, his plans weren’t always this drastic. Taking what he always told us at face value, he sought to put an end to Fate and the Cold Elders.
For the other three Cold Elders, it was at least clear why they threatened the Universal Order. Phantom wanted to open doors to realms outside of the Universe, threatening to collapse its very stability. Wicked wanted to rekindle the lost sacred flames of the Skald to corrupt and control souls on a fundamental level. And Secret… well, his goals have always been a secret. If Astrid is right, quite literally so. Secret plans to replicate Godhood to make as many Gods as possible to, theoretically, make as many Universes as possible. Splitting the already infinite Universe into infinitely more pieces creating a “Tower of Babel” effect on a Universal scale.
Fate, on the other hand, wanted to control everyone and everything, essentially becoming the Universal Order. This obviously threatened God’s plans, at the very least, and God’s Otherman was keenly aware of this. So, when given a chance to out-fate Fate, the Otherman took it. Of course, it also gave him another chance at his life, another chance to be with his love Lucifer. Then Lucifer died. No, more than died. She was consumed in the Wicked’s flames, consuming her soul in such a way that she couldn’t return, not as she was when Jean-Marc knew her. To me, this is when things truly turned. His plans, at the time, remained the same to us on the surface—kill Fate. However, he no longer cared about the Universal Order or God’s plans.
He had seen and shaped the flow of time, and now he knew it was beneath him. He lost Lucifer not once but twice. In the prior-Universe he could not be with her as the Otherman. He would live forever while she would live and die as Princes so often do. And now, after carefully laid plans to trick and avoid his Wicked demise and eventual ascension to the title of Otherman—the Wicked and Fate decided to take Lucifer instead. Fate was no longer his enemy—it had become death itself.
And now, Jean-Marc has death at his fingertips. Releasing Joy in her current state would consume this Universe in Blight. Presumably, God and the Devil would put aside their current bickering to place the winding key back into the Pocketwatch to rewind a cataclysm of that scale. For all his posturing as a nihilist, Jean-Marc is not one. He won’t destroy this Universe, not until he’s conquered death. And, well, he’s one Netzach away from doing just that, isn’t he?