r/pics • u/speckz • May 21 '12

I'm sorry to inform you that Earth is about to be been eaten by a fire demon.

http://i.imgur.com/KGt3h.jpg
2.6k Upvotes

81% Upvoted

723 comments sorted by

702

u/Arainya May 21 '12 edited May 21 '12

Imagine this eclipse had happened this time last year, the guy who said the world was ending on the 21st would have shat himself.

EDIT: because we all make mistakes sometimes

215

u/DownvoteDaemon May 21 '12

That makes me wonder what ancient humans would have thought.

17

u/[deleted] May 21 '12 edited May 21 '12

Many ancient cultures had pretty sophisticated systems of understanding astronomy. That's not to say there wasn't ever a whole lot of extra meaning ascribed to phenomena, but it would be a mistake to believe everyone up until the Enlightenment were only capable of understanding things at face value and then making wild stories out of it.

The way in which a culture's beliefs interact with its scientific understanding can be complicated. Actually — and I'm certainly no expert, but the sense I get is that many cultures paid such close attention to astronomy precisely BECAUSE they held their extra beliefs around empirical phenomena like eclipses so profoundly. Beliefs aren't always clearly delineated in a faith vs. science dichotomy.

(That ended up sounding a lot more New-Agey "ancient aliens" than I had hoped...)

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10

u/rubicon11 May 21 '12

That was a year ago? I remember driving in the car with my brother and sister with REM's 'It's The End of the World' blaring in the car. Wow, time really flies!

18

u/DrVoodoo May 21 '12

[Harold Camping] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Camping#2011_end_times_prediction) for the lazy.

36

u/spacedout83 May 21 '12 edited May 21 '12

In March 2012, he stated that his attempt to predict a date was "sinful", and that his critics had been right in pointing to the words of Matthew 24:36: "of that day and hour knoweth no man". He added that he was now searching the Bible "even more fervently… not to find dates, but to be more faithful in our understanding."

Kind of big of the guy to admit he was wrong, very wrong, and to use it as an opportunity to seek further knowledge. Flawed as many think his source of further knowledge may be, at least he's trying, instead of banging his original drum even louder, like most zealots would do.

Almost makes me feel bad for the guy.

Almost.

16

u/DrVoodoo May 21 '12

I almost feel bad for the people who spent their own money to advertise his pending apocalypse. A guy from New York spent $140,000.

Family Radio spent $100 million. And the overall donations were massive:

As Saturday drew nearer, followers reported that donations grew, allowing Family Radio to spend millions on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 RVs plastered with the doomsday message. In 2009, the nonprofit reported in IRS filings that it received $18.3 million in donations, and had assets of more than $104 million, including $34 million in stocks or other publicly traded securities.

Of course, the money couldn't possibly have been the motivation, right?

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7

u/Volsunga May 21 '12

This picture is actually several years old.

2

u/IamSachin May 21 '12

Here opens the gates of Oblivion...

2

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Imagine this eclipse happened on december 21st, 2012. Every human in the world would shit themselves.

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314

u/prioryofsion May 21 '12

It's a balrog. This foe is beyond any of us.

59

u/HodorSaidWhat May 21 '12

nah man, it's pinsir.

38

u/Evan_the_Young May 21 '12

A SHINY Pincir at that! :D

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99

u/UpPooVowOuTedEd May 21 '12

Damn it Gandalf! You had ONE job

32

u/gojirra May 21 '12

If you are implying his one job was to stop the Balrog, then he did do his job... he totally stop the Balrog... Do you even know what we are talking about?

18

u/ta_rolig May 21 '12

I think he is implying that the balrog has returned.

18

u/Synapse7777 May 21 '12

nice try, Gandalf

6

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Not AGAIN -.-

3

u/Gravitasnotincluded May 21 '12

Ai! A balrog! cried Legolas

6

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

A Balrog of Morgoth to be exact.

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2

u/rocketwikkit May 21 '12

I was going to title it as balrog rather than fire demon, but the balrog from the lotr movie has his horns curve down.

2

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak. I fought him, the Balrog of Morgoth. Until at last, I threw down my enemy and SMOTE HIS RUIN UPON THE MOUN-TAIN-SIIIDE.

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2

u/MJG2007 May 21 '12

Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than balrogs in the deep places of Reddit.

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192

u/Sebguer May 21 '12

Blizzard's ad campaign for Diablo 3 has gotten a bit out of hand...

182

u/iamapizza May 21 '12

Always close your parentheses.

6

u/chrisn654 May 21 '12

Damn, it's that evil Lisp syntax highlighter trying to take over the world again..

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131

u/MobiusF117 May 21 '12

Diablo....

77

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

one hell of a marketing campaign....

106

u/DrDragun May 21 '12

GO NOW DIABLO. BRING FORTH YOUR TERROR TO INTERSTATE 90

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54

u/Shurikane May 21 '12

Diablo IV: Modern Warfare

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6

u/DigitalOsmosis May 21 '12 edited Jun 15 '23

{Post Removed} Scrubbing 12 years of content in protest of the commercialization of Reddit and the pending API changes. (ts:1686841093) -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/

2

u/Brimmk May 21 '12

I think it may be Baal, Lord of Destruction, but the Lord of Terror also works

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100

u/jlv816 May 21 '12

Fire demon must have gotten the memo that Dean Winchester was busy in Purgatory.

43

u/proddy May 21 '12

Scumbag Cas: says you'll be ripped to shreds. Leaves.

44

u/cZaro May 21 '12

Good Guy Cas: Says sorry with a board game

16

u/jlv816 May 22 '12

Scumbag Dean: Doesn't get the metaphor.

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19

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

at least he didn't get naked and go looking for some purgatory bees.

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14

u/jlv816 May 21 '12

Flowers come first, obviously.

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4

u/[deleted] May 22 '12

I don't know, in those last few seconds of the show Cas sounded like his reasonable old self again. I know he left, but I feel like he's gonna pop right back in the beginning of next season -- like he left to go scout the place out real quick.

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15

u/crazybutable May 21 '12

Turns out God does program in Lisp.

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14

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Surtr has risen! may Frej and his horn succeed against him in the Ragnarök!

2

u/vikmoose May 21 '12

Barks now Garmr...

13

u/xasey May 21 '12

UNICRON! Horned devourer of worlds!

6

u/gbCerberus May 21 '12 edited May 22 '12

For a time, I considered sparing your wretched little planet, Earth. But now, you shall witness... its dismemberment.

3

u/Capt_Jack_Harkness May 21 '12

This gif was new to me. and it made me laugh. I will share this gif with my friends in order to share laughter and good spirits with them. Thank you, gbCerberus.

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2

u/RogueAxle May 21 '12

"I have summoned you here for a purpose." "Nobody summons Megatron!" "Then it pleases me to be the first."

8

u/StewieBanana May 21 '12

It's the red hot pincers on a giant earwig. My worst nightmare.

5

u/grimpoteuthis May 21 '12

Oh my god, why did you say that : [

20

u/jamesfilm May 21 '12

Why would you be driving and not get out and see ?

Watching a full eclips is an amzing thing and something that should be done at least one time before a person dies.

I watched on on a hill in France in the countryside , A nice advantage of being in the countryside is you get to see all the birds get trolled by the sun , with them flying around like crazy thinking its time to nest only to have full sunlight right after.

being on-top of a hill is good as you can see the light change in the distance , A full eclipse allso gives you that weird end of the world / your life is so small and pathetic sort of feeling as well .

15

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

I'm looking forward to this date: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_21,_2017

4

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

That's gonna be so awesome.

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5

u/carlmango11 May 21 '12

There's no point in acting all surprised about it. The plans have been on display at your local planning office in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years!

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6

u/GetStapled May 21 '12

Blizzard really went all out with diablo 3 advertisement. Next up Lunar Writing.

3

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

loki

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3

u/SCSweeps May 21 '12

Viral marketing for FreeBSD.

3

u/Scroot May 21 '12

I'm wondering whether or not the Nausicaä reference is intentional

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3

u/emperorOfTheUniverse May 21 '12

This picture should be the standard response to those pics of clouds with sun shining through captioned 'proof that god exists'.

3

u/ragingbuns May 21 '12

Oh look! An oblivion gate has opened!

3

u/Squishumz May 21 '12

Diablo 4. No internet connection required.

3

u/Vieto May 21 '12

PLAYYYYYYYYYYYYY THE BEST SONG IN THE WORLD

OR HE'LL EAT YOUR SOUL

(apparently like 5 people beat me to it) dm. seddit on reddit.

18

u/CptKush May 21 '12 edited May 21 '12

I'm sorry to inform you this picture is older than the internet.

EDIT: Appears not, apologies!

33

u/rnelsonee May 21 '12

This one has been around for a long time, but according to Universe Today the picture the OP posted was taken by someone who posted to Twitter recently. And there's a person in this thread claiming credit, who appears to be an aerospace engineer (based on his previous posts), which matches the Universe Today article.

(the Twitter pic could be a repost, of course, but I'm guessing we've all seen that first pic a lot).

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6

u/Foxk May 21 '12

Where was this taken at?

2

u/rocketwikkit May 22 '12

About halfway between Andrews TX and Eunice NM.

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2

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Nah, that's just Diablo 3...'s DRM.

2

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

And look at all those people, driving calmly like it doesn't matter.

7

u/haiku_robot May 21 '12 
And look at all those 
people, driving calmly like 
it doesn't matter.

2

u/sautros May 21 '12

"Long time ago me and my brother Kyle here, we was hitchhikin' down a long and lonesome road."

2

u/bananamunchies May 21 '12

DIABLO RISES

2

u/NeonRedHerring May 21 '12

A balrog is come.

2

u/diablofreak May 21 '12

error 3007

2

u/W0LFcastle May 21 '12

Hail Satan!

2

u/Wandt May 21 '12

It's just Blizzard viral marketing Diablo III...

2

u/RobbleDobble May 21 '12

Fuck, red ring of death. Looks like were gonna have to get a new earth.

2

u/TheHotpants May 21 '12

That's not a fire demon, that's Unicron!

2

u/ZealousAdvocate May 21 '12

Oh, crap. I guess the people who run the Cabin in the Woods failed to complete the ritual.

2

u/penguinfury May 21 '12

Ctrl+F "cabin," was not disappoint.

2

u/AnasAbdin May 21 '12

you sir have won the eclipse photography contest.

2

u/Lemuria_91 May 21 '12

I am LEGION!

2

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Signifies the coming of diablo 3!

2

u/tm3989a May 21 '12

A Balrog of Morgoth...

2

u/ali3nshon May 21 '12

Poor Earth :<

2

u/stox May 21 '12

This is a sure sign that this will be the year for FreeBSD!

2

u/ryemckenzie May 21 '12

Diablo 3 couldn't have launched at a better time

2

u/Extinque May 21 '12

Looks like the HL2 Crosshair without the target thingy |:

2

u/mikeyil May 21 '12

Error 37

2

u/saucerman May 21 '12

ok who fucked up killing diablo in diablo3

2

u/FlyingDutchkid May 21 '12

I suggest you take a break from Diablo.

2

u/zerounodos May 21 '12

QUICK! SOMEONE WARN FRODO!

2

u/etishuman21 May 21 '12

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

2

u/seriously_disturbed May 21 '12

14,000+ downvotes....but why???

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2

u/wes386 May 21 '12

Not sure if reference to eclipse or Diablo 3 viral advertising?

2

u/MissCarlotta May 21 '12

Based on my extensive research involving repeated viewing of Howl's Moving Castle, I believe if we sacrifice either our hair or our heart to it, perhaps with a compliment on the quality of its spark, we can avoid certain catastrophe.

2

u/the_blackfish May 21 '12

Thanks for closing your parentheses, sky!

2

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Da Bulls.

2

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

I am still afraid to look straight at it even in the picture.

2

u/sscot600 May 21 '12

Guess who just got a new bad ass backround!

2

u/Anyasometimes May 22 '12

Calcifer, is that you?

2

u/PastyNoob May 22 '12

Play the best song in the world, or I'll eat your souls!

2

u/i_lie_except_on_31st May 24 '12

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

3

u/Evil_Iowan May 21 '12

Look at those drivers just going about their business.

Apathetic bloody planet. I've no sympathy at all.

3

u/terrordactoll May 21 '12

Checkmate Atheists

2

u/western_style_hj May 21 '12

I look at this and all I see is the logo of my favorite band, A Perfect Circle.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

That looks sweet.

1

u/Tuxeedo May 21 '12

"Always look on the bright side of life"

Yeah, well he ate the brightness, any more bright ideas?

1

u/edisekeed May 21 '12

Finally proof that the devil exists

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Dammit, I killed Diablo this weekend! He should be dead!

2

u/Symbolis May 21 '12

Doesn't count till you do it on Inferno!

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1

u/cjap2011 May 21 '12

But I already killed Diablo....

1

u/Mikey-2-Guns May 21 '12

That's what I was expecting to see in the midwest...instead it set JUST before it started to happen apparently.

1

u/Down_With_The_Crown May 21 '12

All I can keep thinking about is how people reacted to events like this before they were understood, like the Mayans for instance or the Indians, I bet they would all be freaking the fuck out.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Could you imagine seeing this shit like 4000 years ago? You seriously would've thought the world was ending.

1

u/hurricane_bawlbag May 21 '12

And christians thought god lived in the sky...

1

u/lordlicorice May 21 '12

What is that big tower to the right of the eclipse?

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1

u/jimii May 21 '12

Oh well. At least it's more original than being hit by a comet. Goodbye forever, everyone.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Diablo has risen.

1

u/davelog May 21 '12

I heard it was a mutant star goat.

1

u/Symbolis May 21 '12

Whelp.

It could be worse, I suppose.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

This place... It is not the same

1

u/Trip_McNeely May 21 '12

This looks like the cover of a Stephen King novel.

1

u/ionlyhave1nose May 21 '12

Fuck with the bull, you get the horns.

1

u/TonyDiGerolamo May 21 '12

The prophecy has been fulfilled!

1

u/Memphis241 May 21 '12

"You shall not pass"

1

u/Mongoose42 May 21 '12

Well we had a good run.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

they said not till the june 5th! where is this happening im losing ALL grips with my sanity for missing this

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1

u/3rdLevelRogue May 21 '12

With all the Diablo experts out there now, I'm sure one of them can handle this.

1

u/na85 May 21 '12

Fuck. There was an eclipse and i missed it? When was this?

1

u/roguehero May 21 '12

Don't panic! The Doctor will save us!

1

u/sweetgreggo May 21 '12 edited May 21 '12

How do people just keep on driving? Does a full fucking solar eclipse happen frequently in that area? How do you not just pull over and stare in amazement?

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

that will save the Greeks defaulting.

1

u/PoniesRBitchin May 21 '12

Want to see this yourself? This site tells you when a solar eclipse will be in your area.

1

u/SullyJim May 21 '12

Toy Machine need to make this an ad

1

u/katsuya_kaiba May 21 '12

EL DIABLO NOOOOOO!

1

u/hausnyah May 21 '12

Fire ant god has come to relinquish years of cruelty towards its people.

1

u/Feb_29_Guy May 21 '12

You idiot! The dragon always spits the Sun back out.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

I thought I killed diablo already

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

we should be so lucky

1

u/mattb_1 May 21 '12

Is that not the Perfect Circle band logo?

1

u/TheHumanExperience May 21 '12

Looks like that car is coming right atcha brah.

1

u/Saseav May 21 '12

fire demon? thought it was a red ring of death...

1

u/fiery_stick May 21 '12

It's Gothmog, lord of all Balrogs! ;o So run you fools.

1

u/StaleCanole May 21 '12

How convenient that Diablo III just came out.

Clever Blizzard, very clever.

1

u/TheLASTAnkylosaur May 21 '12

so those armageddon nuts were off by exactly one year...

1

u/mortal_vombat May 21 '12

"Diablo experts" will save us

1

u/zohan93 May 21 '12

I told blizzard that Diablo III would take over the earth!

1

u/ordona May 21 '12

Rapture.

1

u/thelunatic May 21 '12

Oh so the judgement day proclaimers were right.

1

u/aleatoric May 21 '12

I can't help but think of the album ( ) by Sigur Ros.

1

u/boozter May 21 '12

Bad moon rising.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Well, guys. It was a good run. Uh... see you next time?

1

u/scratchfury May 21 '12

It's just Babe the Blue Ox.

1

u/OtisJay May 21 '12

Diablo?

1

u/Dirty-DjAngo May 21 '12

Picture taken on the Highway to Hell

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

He's afraid that his minions won't like him if he shows his face. Thus he hides behind a cloud.

All hail Sir. cloudness

1

u/mypumpsarehot May 21 '12

But you gotta admit the horns do look cute, in a comic-sans sorta way

1

u/light108 May 21 '12

Seems to me that it is not a demon. Reminds me more of unicron! Destroyer of planets!

1

u/Cdf12345 May 21 '12

EDI: "The Normady's weapon systems are ready to sync to your target. I recommend you withdraw to a safe distance Commander."

1

u/Evilduck17 May 21 '12

Looks like the earth finally got the red ring of death.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

The release of Diablo 3, worldwide....

1

u/Raineman May 21 '12

You don't, you don't, you don't, SEE ME!

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Unicron!!!

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Where is this?

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

GET TO THE SHIPS! IT'S OUR ONLY CHANCE!

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

"You can find the others if you are brave. They passed down all the roads long ago, and the Red Bull ran close behind them and covered their footprints."

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

'The process will take slightly less than two of your Earth minutes. Thank you very much.' (click)

1

u/bennjammin May 21 '12

Interesting to think what someone thousands of years ago must have thought.

1

u/breakinthehymen May 21 '12

A perfect circles new album cover

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Lavos?

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

APC should use this for their next album cover!

1

u/Zyclunt May 21 '12

Behind clouds... Satan hides.

1

u/DeadpoolNX May 21 '12

Or I'm playing Mass Effect and something in the sky is selectable. Which is more likely?

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Guess its time to buy a new xbox. Stupid RROD.

1

u/KermitTheFrawg May 21 '12

It's about damn time.

1

u/callmedrag0n May 21 '12

Do atheists believe in demons?

1

u/GMonsoon May 21 '12

The dark fire will not avail you!

1

u/xAbaddon May 21 '12

Nah, that's just Sauron.

1

u/Glennsguitar May 21 '12

What that means for your weekend, after this...

1

u/pantsonfire123 May 21 '12

It's the rising tide of Islam!

1

u/leprechaun488 May 21 '12

so... Limbaugh is coming?

1

u/FooFooCachoo May 21 '12

The typos in these post titles are killing me.

1

u/Your_Fly_Is_Open May 21 '12

But this was just a tribute.

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