The Rapture Family

* See also Sofia Lamb
* See also Eleanor Lamb
* See also Wales Brothers
* See also Lambs Utopian
* See also Grace Holloway
* See also Gilbert Alexander
* See also Stanley Poole
* See also BS2
The Rapture Family were people under Sofia Lamb's 'sway' ( in the period after Ryan died and there was great disorder in Rapture ) and who were shown (some) to be willing to sacrifice themselves towards achieving Sofia's "Utopian" by allowing their ADAM to be harvested to instill their DNA "Memories" into that super being who would become some Philosopher King for Mankind. It was all alot of BOSH, a Scam, as Memories are not contained in DNA and such ADAM infusions had already driven a hugely mutated Gilbert Alexander into insanity. 
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ADD PICTURES OF :
* "UNBELIEVERS" (got murdered)
* Coercion Chambers in Persephone ( Sofia had many means of persuasion available to her in Persephone )
* Seemed to ME that 'Drowned' Persephone needed a Coat of Paint ( Sofia could come up with tons of explosives, but couldn't even have her office cleaned and painted. )
* World's Worst Mother ( Sofia smothering Eleanor )
* "THINK OF THE CHILDREN !!!" ( How many 'collateral' deaths happened when she had children gathered from The Surface ? )
* Slave Labor (Collectivist style) to feed everyone ( Food from 1960 had 'already long run out' )
* Chairman Lamb ordering Executions Lists with 'nice round numbers' Lists with 'nice round numbers' - Stalin had his execution lists filled out to 'nice round numbers'.
* After the 'sacrificed' of the Family members to The Utopian Project, it was festive Taco Con Carne time ...
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Dysfunctional Family ( The Rapture Family's Post-Lamb Fate ) :
The "Rapture Family" soon fell apart without Sofia Lamb's dictating to them and Wales' zealotry. The Family's Splicers were again disorganized and fragmented, with some small groups of the 'less insane' trying to keep things together. Various Splicers with ambition seized power ( and critical resources ) and set up their own fiefdoms, fighting with each other for territory. Result - more refugees fleeing, who found little better ... ( See Rapture_Factions ) 
With Simon Wales gone, and his Pseudo-Christian Cult having lost its 'Beloved Leader' and its 'Holy Vessel'(Eleanor), and with many of the 'disciples' slaughtered, there was much disorganization and infighting amongst the remainders. With food production disrupted, many Splicers reverted to their old ways of terrorizing everything around them and holding on to whatever they could manage to grab.
That section of Rapture's infrastructure ( the old Southern part of Rapture which we saw in BS2 ) managed somehow to continue functioning, but given enough time would have failed without intervention. Big Daddies continued with some repairs, but the condition of areas like Persephone limited what repairs they could do.
The remainders of 'The Rapture Family' began to call Sofia Lamb the "Judas Goat" for leading them astray and then abandoning them. This was encouraged by the new wannabee leaders of the breakup groups, who had to discredit that old 'Beloved Leader' they all once deludedly worshiped. Note : Simply saying that Sofia Lamb talked so many people into killing themselves was an easy story argument, and the MMORPG could have Flashbacks explaining the complexities of that situation and the realities about Sofia's Utopian Project.
The MMORPG's New Rapture City will eventually expand further into Lamb's ex-domain and will try to save Splicers, but at the same time having to deal with the hostile factions that still exist there. Propaganda efforts to try to reach the unfortunates ( those treated as serfs by Lamb and her minions ) are often thwarted by the local factions, and stronger methods may be required.
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Lamb, Now The Reviled 'Judas Goat' :
"Judas Goat" - a goat used to calm and lead sheep to the slaughter.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_goat
It will be interesting to see those various remaining EX-Lamb Shrines ( encouraged by Sofia Lamb ) marked over with derision and disparaging replies/remarks to the original demented Slogans - Calling her the 'Evil One', 'Stalin in a Skirt', 'Judas Goat', and the 'Metamorphosis to Annihilation - Mephistopheles', 'Unity for Lamb alone', 'Liar', 'Murderer', etc ... (( Likewise Sofia's successors attempting some similar cult activities. ))
Testimonials by Ex-Splicers who were once members of 'the Rapture Family' give evidence of the extent of Sofia Lamb's crimes and delusional insanity - exposed for all to see ( Exhibit at "The Museum of Parasites and Insanity" off Second Street, New Rapture ).
(( If she had managed to escape to The Surface, then there could be an effort to bring her back for trial. ))
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 'The Rapture Family' Murdering Of Heretics :
"Nonbelievers are not welcome here anymore" . . . . 'anymore'
Interesting in BS2 that there are more than a few people shown killed because they didn't believe as 'The Rapture Family' (or its leaders) wished/required them to. Bait and switch ... Sofia Lamb originally preached the usual collectivist lines about working together and helping each other, but once in control started having the followers 'martyr themselves' and kill those who did not believe in the Beloved Leader and her insane goals.
Ryan at least reserved hanging people up on a wall (dead) for those who tried to assassinate him. Those others 'hung' in public places were Smugglers ( Traitors to all of Rapture, risking the City's safety for a buck ). You cannot say that they were not warned. Most of those who turned against Ryan's Rapture were imprisoned, not killed - Ryan had a major revulsion for Sofia Lamb as being from the same mold as those collectivists who murdered his family, yet he still let her live.
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How Many Rapturites Fled Lamb's Commune ?? :
We saw the result of at least two people who tried to escape and were killed in a Bathysphere/submarine.
No doubt, many who might have "bought into" Lamb's 'lets work together' rhetoric and pseudo spiritualisms, soon found themselves wondering what it was mutating into and then no longer cared for it and even sought escape.
How many of her 'Family' toiled in the farms of the Greenbelt to keep her and her minions fed ?? Would she even care if they were worked to death or would that just make gathering their ADAM for her experiments that much easier?
There were many other surviving sections of the City that she had NO influence over, and when some people figured out the 'deal' Sofia Lamb was selling, there were places they could escape to. Unfortunately for those fleeing, the response to her power grab and attempts to seize more of Rapture, other Factions had destroyed/flooded many of the connecting paths from her to protect themselves. Later, with so many fleeing her benevolence, she had her minions close off any of the remaining exits. "The Wall of Love" was built to keep people from escaping ( Hmm, sounds familiar ), but many still found ways. Others, trapped, killed themselves ( we saw many of their corpses throughout Lamb's domain dead in 'natural' positions - many very obviously suicide ).
Sinclair allegedly was trapped in the territory Lamb controlled ( BS2 he's in Ryan Amusements, and had been interacting with Tenenbaum ). But who knows what he was really up to -- He previously certainly had access to alot of resources, and was clever in working things to his advantage. ( It is possible he even transited across The Wall to get to Delta. )) While WE were beating up Sofia Lamb's thugs, he was likely scooping up goodies for his trip Back to The Surface. Perhaps, if Delta managed to dispose of Lamb and her henchmen, Sinclair might before leaving 'sell' a new deal to her flock.
People who resisted Sofia Lamb too much ( and encouraged others to do so ) disappeared down into the Abyss, forever ( or found themselves 'volunteered' for ADAM "memory" extraction as 'martyrs' to the great Utopian ).
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Fontaine Futuristics/Persephone - Dead Butterflies :
Symbolic of Lamb's Delusions - 'Worship' pictures of Sofia Lamb surrounded by dead butterflies PINNED in place.
Previously we've see live butterflies or drawn butterflies, but here those supposedly wonderful symbols of 'transformation' are just more dead decorations to Lamb's insanity. One wonders WHEN all the gullible Splicers are used up in the 'sacrifices', that more unwilling people will start to be forced to 'participate' (or had that already begun ? ... ) Perhaps at that point they start turning on Sofia Lamb ( maybe a worry that Sofia had that her daughter would be the one leading this ... )
(( 'Heir Eleanor' - A whole substory plot could be developed for this in the MMORPG ... Splicers can have all kinds of stories both real and imaginary )).
MMORPG IDEA - We can see a few Splicers DRESSED as big 'Blue Butterflies' ( of varying costumery competence ).
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Blue Butterflies Attacking the Player :
What ? You wanted little flying piranhas that flew after you til you evaded them ? Or killed em. It would need a better Game Engine and some more Imagination for that freak show. Easy to Animate (for MMORPG 'invention') Use swarm/flocking programming logic ( also useful for realistic bees and flies and fish ).
Flaming Butterflies, cute.
"Disease carrying vermin" - what Ryan called them ... "A Parasites Symbol"
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Did you know (True) that all Butterflies, if given the opportunity, will drink your bloodThis IS a real phenomenon in the Real World ? Explains how they could live in Rapture ... ((( An Allegory for the Sofia Lamb - as Parasite )))
Did you know that Butterflies evolved from Moths, of which there are 5 Times as many species as Butterflies.
NOW YOU ARE IN THE KNOW !!!!!
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Remember all those bodies we saw in BS2 floating out in the ocean ?
Collectivists don't recognize the right of the individual - even to life.
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 "We are but the STONES to Pave the WAY" ( Lamb-ite Stuff seen on wall in AE Depot in BS2 ) :
I don't think all those people that Sofia Lamb murdered ever got gravestones.
Hmm, what exactly did 'The Family' do with the bodies of the latest "Joiners with the First Utopian" -- "Soylent Green is made out of Splicers !!!" ( Screams the Splicer Guy as Sofia has him put to death ) -- A Good theme for at least one quest/mission ( If you see something labeled "Soylent Green" out there in 'The Wild/Ruins', best just leave it where it lies. )
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"Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition..." Heard In Wale's Church in Sirens Alley BS2 :
Very strange for a 'church' that's supposed to be all lovey dovey with all of mankind ...
Should have also heard the song from the 1933 Marx Brothers movie "Duck Soup" :
: They got guns,
: We got guns,
: All God's chillun got guns !
: I'm gonna walk all over the battlefield,
: 'Cause all God's chillun got guns !
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Jars of Water in Paupers Drop :
You hope its water ...
Basic utilities broken down ? Not just the waters taste, but general wholesomeness might be the issue. What must've it been like to live under Lamb's fetid regime as conditions declined. It would make coercion easier, as resources dwindled and she controlled what little there was.
Imagine what the place must've smelled like with rotting corpses everywhere ( and Sofia Lamb didn't even have her HQ cleaned up after running it for years ... ). "Its all for the common good" ... Half-crazy Splicers no doubt fell for that one.
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Someones gonna do it : 
After Sofia Lamb is gone, one of her minions will name himself "Number 2'" and declare that 'the Family' is now "The Village" and everyone will be Numbers. Some other unfortunate, looking for their daughter (ala Meltzer), will show up and on being apprehended in that section of the City. They will be held captive and be called "Number 6" ( Parades with umbrellas strangely are regularly held - for some reason or other, which half-insane Splicers only understand ).
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The Rapture Family TV :
In BS2 times, there seemed to be alot of TVs still in use : Not just the public TVs, but many in various Splicer habitations. What could have been broadcast which was of interest ? Lamb's 'Family' programming possibly ( Watch it or ELSE ). Maybe some other entertainment to fill the hours not dedicated to scrounging up something to eat ( or that Sofia will be eye-balling you for the next 'sacrifice' ).
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"Uneasy rests The Crown ..." :
Sofia Lamb murders her own minions left and right. How long before she would get a crowbar in the back of her head and the Family is Free at last ??? She has to sleep sometime ... ( Plot idea for a 'resistance' group within her own 'Family' - Kinda like the failed assassination attempts on Hitler. ) Crazy Splicers are not really trustworthy 'loyalists' - Rabid Followers 'one moment', and murderously insane Berserkers 'the next'.
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Why do Sofia Lamb's Deluded Flock Leave Rapture Money at those Shrines ??? 
Especially Money with Ryan's face on it ?? Shouldn't it be symbolic of Ryan's "Slavery, Genocide, Chaos" ??? If "The Rapture Family" is so together, then why have/need any money at all ?? ( Sing the Loot Song .... "LOOT . LOOT LOOT LOOT ... LOOT . LOOT LOOT LOOT ... " )
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Dis'ing Sofia Lamb and Her Crazy Followers :
It might have been amusing in BS2 if you (Delta) started 'desecrating' those cute Lamb Worship Shrines, so that some 'The Rapture Family' Splicers would come running in outrage. Incinerate would be great for torching them en masse.
Hmmmm, "The Rapture Family Splicers" -- sounds like the name of a folk singing group from the early 1960s.
Actually that brings up the possibility for more psychological tactics to use against Splicers, with different groups/individuals having different motive/motivations that players could manipulate ( and some cunning opponents might use against you and your NPC 'Team' ). "BE QUIET, OR THE BUNNY GETS IT !!!". I'm not sure how successful a computer game (particularly a MMORPG) you can get players involved enough for 'psychological motivations' to work on the player -- Lying to them and springing surprises on them, yes, weird noises of something they know is truly nasty coming their way, yes.
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 "Join the Rapture Family" (Lamb - from public address in AE Depot in BS2) :
Whaaaa ? I Thought Lamb ran Rapture by 1968.
If she is still having to exhort Splicers to 'join the Rapture Family' ... Apparently there are still many people in Rapture that never bothered to join/resisted ( and have survived all that time without her 'help' ).
That does not sound like Sofia Lamb controlled 'all of Rapture' to me. The AE Depot is likely a 'unsecured' border area ( and the location is still only in the southern 'old' section of Rapture -- and this is years after the power vacuum left by Ryan's "death" ... )
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Rapture Family Post-Lamb Strangeness :
With the departure of Sofia Lamb, leaving the 'Rapture Family' cult without leadership, no doubt all kinds of aberrations likely occurred.
* Splicers dressing up as Little Sisters ( both male and female ).
* A 12 foot statue of Jack made out of rotting fish, being worshiped.
* The frenzied/desperate consumption of Blue Butterflies and Sofia's book 'Unity & Metamorphosis' ....
* A Sofia Lamb "pretender" ( dressed as her, makeup, hair and glasses and annoying voice ) trying to take her place as Beloved Leader ( quickly beaten to death when the "pretender's" wig fell off ).
* Huge 'crate' men ( 25 foot high rough figure/shape of a man made out of those odd crates we kept opening ) in which sacrificial victims are trapped and burned alive. A complete fiasco the first 'lighting' when the whole building section was smoked out by the fumes and noxious gasses that resulted.
* One faction murdering another faction for not believing in 'the Lamb' with ENOUGH conviction and feeling -- and thus bringing/causing her actual downfall. The other faction declaring/denouncing her as the 'Anti-Lamb' ....
* A small sub-group who wear a little 'lifeboat/escape pod' figurine around their necks who await Sofia's return.
* A few of Lamb's administrative lackeys (who had been bright enough to keep their heads down) emerging from their cubbyhole shadows and seized control of various critical infrastructure ( the armory, the radio/TV station, the ADAM/Food stockpile, control overrides, etc ... ) - and especially the farms. They loudly announced that Eleanor's "Second Coming" was imminent, and that 'all the faithful' should be calm (and orderly) and prepare to welcome her ( and until that time obey her Worthy Disciples ... Them )
* And then there were all the truly insane things ...
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Blue Morpho Butterfly :
An apt (probably unintended by the writers) symbol for 'The Family', as the blue color is actually an iridescent illusion, and its wing is actually dark colored. Many of the places which we see them they would not look that (bright blue) way because the blue color is dependent on reflected light, and so much of Rapture is now dark. The back of their wings are dark colored, so anytime you see them from that angle they would NOT appear blue. Just like The Family, and Sofia Lamb, the light face hides its dark nature. POSSIBLE (Rumored) : One of Levine's game developers was an obsessive watcher of "Silence of the Lambs", and who fixated on the "Moth" thing ( echo's of Sander Cohen ) to the extent of 'Death Threats' until it was to be included in the game. And Splicers were called "insane" ??? 
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Those "Blue Butterflies" (of Lamb's Cult) - - Kindof a "Silence of the LAMBS" Vibes There :
Psycho-Analyzing Lamb : She really had a hatred for humanity, and her actions were aimed at destroying it in revenge for her own limitations and weaknesses. A true Folly, to try to attempt to destroy Human Nature - resulting in little more than enforced slavery and death (AND HER OWN DESTRUCTION).
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Societal Systems (Philosophies) in Opposition - Ryan Vs Lamb :
One big difference : Rapture would have never got built under Sofia Lamb
Parasites consume, not produce. They also impair the normal function of the 'host', often to the point of being fatal. Collectivists run to only the least common denominators, and the people who manage to get into power don't want everyone else to excel.
Ryan's world (and society) was much closer to our own ( assuming YOU the reader don't live in North Korea ), and Sofia Lamb's Collectivist system would have died immediately if it was without the preexisting city to live off of. It could not build such a place. A similar result would likely happen any place on The Surface 'The Family' infested. And the Free World would probably fight against Sofia's tyrannical system as it actually did others whose goal was subjugation ( that's assuming her delusions actually added upto anything more than just a bunch of trapped unfortunate people held under her sway, and that they could manage to be much of a threat before they died off ).
As Augustus Sinclair once said : "Sofia Lamb is the Rot in Rapture's Wainscoting."
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Leftovers :
In the New Rapture Era, there could be ( in the MMORPG story ) various ex-Rapture-Family Splicers, while casting about for a NEW Utopian GOD to worship, seized upon The Thinker as their new Utopian object of worship. 
Some clever Player Writers could use that as source for several MMORPG sub-plots and Missions. Various computer-ese manifestations similar to the Minervas Den themes could be done. 
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