#i hope you can read roman numerals

[1moreff-creator]

Matching the DRDT Characters with their Roman Numeral Quote (LGI MV)

So, I immediately fell in love with newest Literature Girl Insane MV, and I have to drop everything I’m doing just so I can talk about it. Although there is so much to discuss I don’t even know where to begin, one thing which immediately caught my eye was the crosswords which flashes on the screen for a moment.

As many have figured out, it’s made up of the names of everyone in the cast, plus Mai Akasaki, minus David. As the footnote on “Now” says, it’s better to use full names instead of nicknames (such as Julia instead of J) and to exclude the protagonist of the MV.

Here’s the solution by raspbeyes, who I believe may have been the first person to upload it to Tumblr.

However, what’s really interesting is that, by the nature of a crosswords, it connects all characters with a Roman numeral. And these Roman numerals show up throughout the video, attached to different sentences. That way, you can connect the characters to these sentences. And so, you get some pretty interesting stuff. With that in mind, I went through and collected all the Roman numerals (it’s not very difficult, apart from one exception), and I wanted to share my thoughts on them.

Now, the numbers don’t actually show up chronologically for the most part, and the only real logic they seem to follow is “they show up after the crossword flashed on screen”. I’ve decided to list them in the order of the actual number instead of the chronological order, as I don’t find the latter to be very important (apart from one case).

That said, I will actually start by number two, since number one is a bit of a special case. You’ll see. For now:

II - Rose ~ Ego cogito ergo (turbatus) sum

We have some latin to kick things off! “Ego cogito ergo sum” is the ever famous “I think therefore I am” philosophy, but in latin! This phrase (from what I understand) claims that the only thing we can be truly and absolutely sure exists, is our own reasoning and consciousness. This fits Rose decently well, as she’s established her photographic memory causes her trouble separating what’s real, what’s a memory, what’s a dream, etc. Even more so, it sorta fits with the song “Cartoons” from the now vanished character playlist, which some theories placed as Rose’s.

However, there is also the addition of “turbatus” to the saying. Turbatus, from a quick Google search, means something like “disturbed”. Thus, the full meaning is something like “I think, therefore I am disturbed”. This fits Rose even better, considering her scene with Teruko and Nico in the dress-up room. Don’t think I have to go too far in explaining this one.

III - Charles ~ If you doubt brittle things are broken

So, is this about his dead brother he doesn’t remember? As in, “if you doubt your memories, as they’re brittle, they’ll break? Or is this talking about the relationships between the cast? “Distrust will lead to our collapse”, sorta fits the talk he had with Teruko early in chapter 2.

However, I actually lean more towards the brother thing, because of the blue, long quote which is flipped upside down on top of the image.

“And now here’s my secret, a very simple secret. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye”

So, here’s where the Roman numerals become sorta weird. Does this count as part of Charles’ quote or not? I assume it’s at least related, especially seeing some of the other stuff we’ll see in the background.

Now, to the actual quote. I recognize it as a quote from the fox in “The Little Prince”, a book which if you have not read, you should honestly read. It’s a surprisingly sweet book to attach to Charles, but I can honestly see him blushing while talking about it, so it fits.

The quote itself is simple to understand; the material things in the world are not as important as our feelings, relationships, hopes, dreams, all that which can only be seen with the heart. This could be talking about the group’s relationships like I mentioned, but I lean more on thinking it’s referring to the memories of our loved ones, aka, Charles’ memories of his brother. Yes, the fact the quote starts by talking about secrets influences this interpretation.

IV - Arei ~ Right now, why do you cry?

Not much to talk about here. Arei’s the victim of this chapter, that’s why she cries. You can read into it a bit more and claim it has to do with Arei’s bullying of other people (“why are you crying, you wimp?” is something which could conceivably come out of her mouth), or more optimistically, it’s talking about how Arei used to only cry crocodile tears, but as she’s grown more empathetic, she now cries for her friends. Or some sappy shit like that.

Yeah, it’s still probably just about being the CH 2 victim.

V - Ace ~ Right now, why do you go insane? [flipped]

I’m not gonna lie, I kinda laughed a bit when I checked which character this one belonged to. Yeah, it’s pretty fitting, Ace is always going off for the most inane stuff.

More interesting is perhaps the background quote, “a cat has 9 additional lives”. Considering we’re talking about one of two people who’ve survived murder attempts so far, it makes sense, though I wonder if it’s going to come into play again later.

… Also, this just confirms in my mind the song from the playlist which belonged to Ace was “Yesman”. Undead, undead! and all that. I swear I’ll make a post about it eventually, I’m just more focused on this at the moment.

VI - Arturo ~ mind exercise 1 2 3 4

… Uh, well, as a surgeon, he do be exercising that mind though? Or something like that. Yeah, frankly I got nothing. This is just another moment where we Arturo enjoyers gotta take the L.

(Yes, I did just come out as an Arturo enjoyer-)

VII - J ~ Do it like that, let’s live together!

Another one I have no answer for. Like, what do you want me to say, this implies J’s the mastermind? Because it sort of does, seeing as she’s telling everyone to live together. But I really don’t see anything too interesting in the main quote.

However, the background quote may be more noteworthy. Anything in brackets is covered by something else but can be guessed with context.

“The Moral La[w] causes the people to be in com[plete accord] with their ruler, so that they wi[ll f]ollo[w] [him] regard[less of] their lives, undis[mayed] by any danger”

Had to look this one up. J’s quote is from Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” of all goddamn things. The Moral Law the quote is talking about is, from basic research in Google, some sort of unity of purpose; the idea that if the followers and the rules have the same interests, their side will have an advantage in war.

… What?

Yeah, this one’s a bit odd too. For now, my best answer is that it may have to do more with Mariabella than J herself. If you see Mariabella as a sort of leader, and her fans as the followers, it could be talking about how the combined pressure of Mariabella and the media overwhelm J, the “other side” of the “war”.

But if you’re really into the mastermind J idea, you can read it as “she’s the leader of the killing game, with the followers being the people at home that have the same purpose of wanting to see despair and keep the show running by watching”. But I really doubt we’d be getting this sort of mastermind allusions in an MV from chapter 2 of all things.

If anyone has better ideas on this quote or any other, I’d love to hear them.

VIII - Nico ~ even if i try to think, idk!

Another one I can’t talk too much about. My best guess as to what this means is “Nico tries to think about social cues, but doesn’t get it”. Relatable, but also nothing new. Maybe I’m missing something big, but it’s what I got for now.

IX - Levi ~ look, aside from the usual, give me that medicine

Disclaimer, the words don’t actually appear in that order in the MV, but this phrase makes a lot more sense than “look aside from that the usual medicine give me”.

I really don’t know what this means. I mean, I can guess Levi might take some medicine? Whit did say some people took prescriptions apparently. But I really don’t quite understand why this is the first time we’ve had his character associated with medicine.

EDIT: The last few paragraphs about Levi are dead wrong, I’m just leaving by them up so you can laugh at how stupid I was. Here’s a correction with a better analysis.

The background quote doesn’t make it much better. It’s just talking about the orbit of a thing, something something representative trajectory… something something Jupiter… something something 1930…

Oh shit, it’s about the discovery of Pluto! That’s what Google seems to think when I put those keywords in, anyways. Well, as fun an astronomy tale as that one is, I actually have no idea what it means for Levi’s character. I guess it’s something we’ll see in the future.

… Or maybe, crazy idea. You know how Pluto was first thought to be a “planet” but then got reclassified as”dwarf planet”? Maybe this means my theory is right: Levi will get “discovered” as the blackened of the second trial, but then “reclassified” as an accomplice when they find out Eden is actually-

Alright, I’ll stop. I’m joking, obviously… (unless?)

X - Min ~ Democratic-ly

Wait, hold on a second, you may say. That is an X, but it doesn’t really look like the rest of roman numerals font-wise. There are plenty of times X’s appear in the video aside from here, such as… well, the blank death portrait that’s always in the background.

And yes. To my joy, Min got given a bit of special treatment, since the roman numeral for ten, being an X and all, can be seen all throughout the video. However, there is one reason I believe this is absolutely Min’s X.

You see that tiny little 10 next to the X? That’s a footnote. And footnote number 10 is “The Roman numeral for 10 is X”. Of course, the reason we’re reminded of it here is because that X isn’t just a bunch of blood, it’s a Roman numeral.

Of course, Min gets the biggest numeral because she is just that much of a girlboss.

Anyways, numeral oddity aside, it’s pretty obvious why this is Min’s. The background text is just the description of the rules of a class trial, a trial where the outcome is decided democratically, and the reason Min died. This scene is directly followed by more references to class trials, which although they have some interesting implications for the MV as a whole, only help to solidify Min’s connection to her line.

As for other footnotes, footnote seventeen on the word “democratic-ly” is just an objective fact (“Not a real word. Can’t be found on any dictionary”), though the fact “democratically” is spelt wrong could be a reference to Min’s execution, where she was forced to get a lot of things wrong before dying.

Final note is footnote 12, on the class trial definition, which talks about majority rule and how, because it’s the fairest way to make decisions in a group, “murderers never complained when we voted for them to die”. There are implications here about the fact Teruko also received votes in the first trial, but for Min, there isn’t anything new here.

And yes, Min got three footnotes. As she should.

XI - Mai ~ God is dead

Honestly, I guessed who got this line before even checking the crossword. It just fits what we know of Mai too much. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s enough to know she would get a line as dramatic as this. If you want a proper interpretation, Mai is sometimes treated like a god by the others considering the secret quotes, but now she’s dead or gone or something.

Of course, that’s the literal meaning of that phrase. When you look at it through the lens of Nietzsche (and Wikipedia to make sure I didn’t fuck up anything), the phrase “God is dead” refers to the idea that as christianity became increasingly non-universal, the ethical and sociocultural elements of society which had been built on it would be questioned and revised. So, “growing lack of faith causes shifts in the status quo”, or something like that. It’s something which, again, may fit Mai from what we know of her backstory. Someone everyone had unquestioned faith on, who did something which had consequences, so maybe that caused a breakdown of that original faith, or something? Anything involving this character is always extremely speculative, but I frankly think the more literal interpretation works better in this context.

In any case, this phrase is about as cryptic and dramatic as everything involving Mai, so it fits.

XII - Eden ~ ???: But you’re in my way, aren’t you?

… Alright, Eden, I know I believe you to be the CH 2 killer and all that, but you gotta at least try to defend yourself against the allegations! The hell is this?

In case anyone was wondering, I think she’s the killer who wants to get out to meet back up with the girl she kissed (who I’m starting to get convinced is Mai but I’m not ready for that conversation), so this line reads like something she’d say to Arei in that theory. However, it’d be kind of a weird thing to put in the MV before the chapter ends, and besides, there’s an interpretation I like more.

You see how there’s a triple question question mark there? There’s a chance someone is saying this to Eden. I’ll actually get back to this later, because I have to talk about XVI before I cover my theory on this. Apologies.

CW for XIII: Suicide

XIII - Teruko ~ or

… He. Alright, out of context, this is kinda funny. But if you let the MV play, it’s “… or not to be?”, from “To be or not to be?” Shakespeare and all that. That said, the video does, in fact, only keep the number on screen while it says “or”, so I choose to notate Teruko’s quote as just that. Also, as raspbeyes noted in their original post, the number thirteen is considered unlucky, so Teruko.

With that, I have to talk about how insanely dark it is to cut that phrase off at the “…or not to be” section. For anyone who hasn’t read this speech from Hamlet (which I hadn’t either, btw, had to look it up), the phrase “to be or not to be” is actually about suicidal ideation, with the word ‘be’ serving as a synonym for ‘live’. Therefore, cutting the phrase off at just this section leaves behind only suicide as the option.

It had already been implied Teruko has attempted suicide before (see: her telling Arei that failed hangings hurt a lot), and that her luck is the only thing keeping her alive. This just seems to imply it’s a much more present issue than we believed.

Then there’s the background text. From my research, the one on the left is a quote from “Murder on the Orient Express” and the one across the bottom is from “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”.

“Murder on the Orient Express” is easy to tie in, as it’s literally a murder mystery novel. Uh, spoilers for the novel, I guess, but it ends with the main detective, Poirot, concluding that the murderer was either no one in the train or everyone there. That sort of ties into Teruko’s hidden quote of “It is an equal failing to trust everybody, and to trust no one at all”, I guess? For the line itself, it seems to be about a character hatefully looking at the detective. You can take Poirot to be Teruko because she’s decent at class trials (as opposed to everyone else being horrible at them), and the person looking at her to be… any blackened, or anyone, or David, take a pick.

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is a bit weirder. It’s a short story about Omelas, an utopia which is the perfect life for everyone there, except for a young child who is forced to live in mysery for the sake of the others. The quote in the video expresses this pretty succinctly. I guess it’s talking about class trials? How the happiness of everyone hinges on one person being very unhappy? Teruko’s the protag, so it makes sense she gets a line like this. There could be other interpretations, but I think that’s the most straightforward one.

XIV - Veronika ~ Things like substance of the arts

I mean, it fits. Veronika’s talent is artistic in nature. It seems a bit… non-dramatic for Veronika? But I guess there’s nothing wrong here.

… Well, there may be, but I’ll get there in a moment.

XV - Whit ~ Remaining ignorant, isn’t that “happiness”?

(Trust me, that’s the order the words show up on screen)

This one’s also easy. Whit’s secret is “Your mother is dead. You omit this truth”. This, combined with his behavior in the killing game, characterizes Whit as someone who prefers to ignore tragedy rather than process it, remaining “ignorant” in a way. The footnote attached, 15, just talks about the phrase “ignorance is bliss”, which is pretty much what the quote is.

…

The problem is the background text.

Thinking Time: “Subtract 4 due to tetraphobia”

That’s the phrase in the background, which appears as both Veronika’s and Whit’s lines are there. This is noteworthy because this is the only time in the MV that two different Roman numerals appear on screen at the same time. The phrase is also attached to footnote 4, which defines tetraphobia:

“The practice of avoiding the number four; it is most common in Eastern Asia. This superstition arises from the fact that the number 4 can be read similar to the word ‘death’ in several languages”

This connection is further implied because the character with the Roman numeral IV is Arei, who died this chapter. There is special attention brought over and over again to the number four, and this phrase asks us to “subtract” it.

And of course, this phrase chooses to appear when two “characters” are on screen, to make sure we can’t figure it out definitively.

Let’s start with Veronika: If you substract four from fourteen you get ten (astounding maths, I know). That connects her to Min and “democratic-ly”… which is the part of the MV most related to class trials and the killing game. Because if there’s a way to look like the mastermind, you bet Veronika’s hopping right on that train!

Other than being “Veronika playing mastermind footsies” for the fiftieth time, and the fact she sorta enjoys class trials, I don’t see any other connection between her and Min’s section, so.

I should address, too, you can remove 4 from 14 in a more literal way, and end up with 1 (doing it with Roman numerals just gets you ten again). This would connect her to Xander, whose line I’ve yet to cover, but trust me on this, I don’t think it connects to Veronika.

However, that’s for the line itself. Veronika might actually have a connection to Xander himself, because of their lines about Mai. Xander’s is “she couldn’t stand to do nothing” and Veronika’s is “a girl who didn’t foresee the consequences”. These are the only lines which allude to whatever big thing Mai may have done. If Xander and Veronika have a connection, it is likely through Mai.

And then there’s Whit, who is also on-screen at the time. Or, well, his Roman numeral is.

Alright, Whit. Veronika’s being super suspicious, so the tetraphobia line has a good chance of being about her. All you gotta do is be normal about this “subtract four” thing, alright? Good.

When you subtract 4 from Whit’s 15, you get 11, which is Mai’s “God is dead”-

For fuck’s sake.

He really just can’t dodge these mastermind allegations, can he? Anyways, if this is about him, he killed Mai, or something, and thus is likely the mastermind.

I’m joking- well, kinda. There are other interpretations, like maybe he… was the first to lose faith in her, in the Nietzsche interpretation of Mai’s line? I don’t know, but the murder is the more straightforward answer for this, if you ask me.

The problem, of course, is that there’s no way to tell which character the “subtract four” thing applies to. Well, the use of the word “tetraphobia” feels more Veronika leaning, what with phobias being related with horror and psychology, but to counterbalance, the line only appears when Whit’s numeral shows up, so it’s even again.

Anyways, back to the last numeral in sequence.

XVI: Hu ~ ???: Go and cry

Alright, you don’t have to be so mean-

In all seriousness, I believe this relates to Hu’s reaction to David’s reveal. And possibly her secret if it’s the one Veronika has.

However, what’s interesting about this line is that it seems to be a direct quote from a character, because of the triple question mark at the beginning. And this is where my theory comes in.

I believe triple question marks is David. This would fit perfectly with this line, as it’s totally something David would say post-magical girl transformation. And with him being the protagonist of the MV, it makes sense for him to be involved.

And that takes me back to XII. If you remember, I said I would talk about Eden’s line a bit more after talking about XVI.

Well, it’s pretty simple, really. Eden’s line comes right after Hu’s in the video, so it’s reasonable to assume ??? is the same person for both of them. In other words, I believe it’s David who tells Eden “but you’re in my way, aren’t you?” This still implies Eden’s the CH2 blackened, by the way. As in, “you’re getting in my way because now I need to figure out a murder”, or something like that. There really isn’t any other thing it could be referring to. Unless it’s like, “you’re getting in my way because you’re so nice you’re preventing murders from happening” or “you’re getting in my way of manipulating Arei by befriending her”, but the first one is too abstract and the second one doesn’t work since David didn’t know about their friendship until after Arei died. So don’t go thinking I’m giving up on that theory. It just changes the context a bit.

-

And with that, we’ve successfully gone through the sixteen numbers. Except, wait! Don’t think I forgot about the funny British boy!

Well, to be frank with you, there is a reason why I chose to save Xander for last. And that is… I didn’t want to start the list with disappointment.

I - Xander ~ Inconclusive

See, the problem is that Xander runs into much the same issue as Min, but without a footnote to help solve the problem. The Roman numeral for 1 is just “I”, so any time the word I appears, Xander’s Roman numeral appears.

Now, maybe you think this is stupid. Obviously any time “I” appears as an actual word, it’s not meant to be Xander’s numeral! We just need to look for the time it’s not a part of the lyrics or a phrase in the text!

This is obviously the most intuitive solution, and it does arrive at… an answer. So, I present, the First Possibility.

First Possibility

I - Xander ~ (the world of abnormal sentiment dances)

Now, at first glance, this works! You have the numeral next to a phrase, and there’s nothing else it could be!

Except, the problem is that that only extends to the screenshot. In this part of the video, the same phrase is on the screen for a good few seconds, but the “I” disappears and gets replaced by several numbers, then the “&” symbol, more numbers, and what seems to be a “=“ sign, maybe? But could be II sideways. Don’t know, looks like code, not my expertise.

The issue here is that this would be the only time a character’s phrase lingers longer than their numeral. This is pretty inconsistent with the other phrases we’ve seen, which is what gets me to hesitate and wonder if that “I” is actually made to be part of the code and not the crossword thing.

That, combined with the line itself. Because what does “the world of abnormal sentiment dances” have to do with Xander? I looked it up, but it’s not the name of a book or anything. Maybe I’m missing something, but I really don’t think this is related to Xander in any way.

So, I looked for other possibilities. The problem is that, like I said, all other possibilities are part of lyrics or phrases, not a standalone numeral.

And yet, there is one which stands out to me as a good candidate. This has a high chance of being wrong, but I’ll bring it up anyways because I think it’s cool.

Second Possibility

I - Xander ~ I hate the things that I love, and I love the things that I hate

… Well, I know it’s hard to read it in that clusterfuck, but that is what the red text says.

This line has a bit more to do with Xander, or at least, David’s feelings towards Xander. We know he probably did like him based on some scenes from the MV, but he’s sad about his death. He hates him for leaving, but his heart loves him anyways. That could be read as romantic or platonic… hesitant on the platonic-

That said, the problem is explaining why I believe this is the Xander line. And that comes down to the background text.

… Yes, that background text.

You see, in the MV, it slowly fills out in a way which lets you read it somewhat. I’ll tell you what each part of the text means, but if you want visuals, I’ll ask you go to the video.

What first appears is white text on top and the right. The white text on top is Big Clue #1, as it’s a definition of electrocution. You know, that thing Xander died from.

The text on the right, meanwhile, seems to be an excerpt from “Alice in Wonderland”. The specific passage seems to feature Alice lamenting how much “pleasenter” [sic] things were “back home”. And well, for everyone but Teruko, their homes were likelier “pleasenter” than the killing game. However, in this context, it could be an analogy to David missing the past, when Xander was still alive.

Then, more white text appears on the bottom as yellow text appears under the white text on top. The bottom text is, again, more talk of electrocution, but the yellow text is a bit more complex. This is the line (from Google, exact wording may vary):

“To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world...”

Another “The Little Prince” quote, another straight banger (I love that book). Imma need the hornier of you to not focus too much on the “taming” wording and focus on the important part. This one speaks of the beautiful simplicity of relationships; everyone is “just some dude” until you meet them and establish a relationship, and then, they become unique.

This is an especially wonderful quote for Xander and David’s relationship. David truly wanted nothing more than to be “a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes” instead of the idol Xander saw him as. He wanted a genuine relationship with him, where they were not just each other’s idols, but something bigger; each other’s boyfriends :D

Alright, sappy stuff aside, this quote is related to Xander, that’s what you need to know.

Then there’s the big pink text. It says “note: can’t read”. Yeah, fair.

But before that note appears, some cyan text begins sprawling out. It’s not a quote from anything as far as I can tell, so here’s a transcript:

“…man crushed by reality puts on a s[how]…

…[of end]urance. If that’s beyond your

[com]prehension, dear reader, then you a[nd]…

[I’ll n]ever understand each other. Life’s…

[short?] so we might as well make it…

[count?] real life is a realm th…”

So, yeah, I’m sort of guessing half the words here, and I can’t even tell what the last line is, but I think we can get the gist from this. Reading this with the context that Xander’s probably connected, it’s easy to figure out. David was crushed by reality when Xander died, and he put on a show of endurance after that. The insult to the reader is a bit uncalled for, but I don’t particularly care, it fits David.

So, with the idea that this little breakdown is related to Xander, it’s safe to say the line “I hate the things that I love, and I love the things that I hate” (not a quote from anywhere I could find btw) is linked with Xander as well.

And, well. There are other references to Xander, but they’re never paired with an “I”. And there are other instances of the word “I”, but never in relation to Xander, at least not as much as this little breakdown.

This clusterfuck of text also forms directly after the crosswords shows up. And while most of these aren’t in chronological order, number II through V do. Wouldn’t it make sense for I to appear right after the crosswords and make I through V in chronological order?

In any case, I believe this is a decent alternative to the “world of abnormal sentiment dances”, whatever that means.

Conclusion

This was really fun! I am satiated for now, the content drop was awesome, I loved it a lot. There’s so much more I want to talk about in this MV, but this was priority number one in my mind.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading! If you made it this far, you deserve your own Roman numeral, all for yourself! Take care!

#drdt #danganronpa despair time #fanganronpa #drdt spoilers #drdt mv #drdt theory #god i love this mv so much #i am already going insane #this is not good #teruko tawaki #arei nageishi #arturo giles #david chiem #eden tobisa #veronika grebenshchikova #xander matthews #whit young #rose lacroix #charles cuevas #ace markey #nico hakobyan #levi fontana #min jueng #hu jing #mai akasaki

[relicsongmel]

hi im also a raymond shields lover [you know this its no surprise] and i am also SOOO autistic about music so i totally ripped apart his theme to analyze it and i wanna hear YOUR THOUGHTS PLEAAAASEEE I NEED SOMEONE TO BE INSANE WITH

HELL YEAH an excuse to geek out about Joking Motive? You better believe I'm taking it

Ok so right off the bat—THE FIRST FOUR NOTES. The first SEVEN notes, even—you can hear Miles’ Great Revival motif, plain as day. Close listeners will recognize that this iconic ascending minor third and whole step pattern can be heard all over the Investigations soundtrack, everywhere from the cross-examination and objection themes to the character themes—including but not limited to Kay, Lang, and in this case, Ray (there’s even an inverted version in Gregory’s theme that uses a descending half step and major third instead!). What’s really interesting is the use of this motif sort of contradicts Ray’s attitude toward Miles when we first hear the track—it’s played during his initial introduction when he still has that grudge towards him. It’s not NECESSARILY out of place considering even Quercus Alba’s theme uses the motif, but it’s a pretty strong musical foreshadowing that he could potentially be swayed over to Miles’ side, which is indeed followed through on later.

As for the main body of the track itself, it’s pretty distinctly blues-y, making gratuitous use of standard blues chord progressions (Am7 -> D7 and whatnot) and pentatonic melodies ornamented by that sweet sweet flat 5 that I have now dubbed “the Ray Note” because the man has melted my brain (what else is new). One thing worth noting that’s a bit atypical of the genre, however, is the Fmaj7 chord used a couple of times throughout (in Roman numeral notation it would be the VI chord); the first instance of it is about 44 seconds into the linked video for reference. This, in my opinion, is a really clever way of hiding emotional nuance underneath the otherwise upbeat instrumentation and playful melody—the VI chord sounds a bit more melancholic in comparison to everything surrounding it and hints that despite his jokester persona, Ray might not actually be as cheerful as he seems.

And now my favorite part—the synesthesia of it all. Idk if you’ve read my pinned post or not but basically the key of a song has certain colors, moods, scenery, etc. associated with it in my brain and it’s been a part of my life since even before I had any sort of musical training. Joking Motive is in A minor—which is represented by the color gray and its associated moods are those of emptiness and yearning (it’s a functional opposite to E flat minor which is pitch black and represents the crushing weight of despair). And I mean. Considering Ray’s whole character revolves around the void left in his life after Gregory’s death and how he desperately tries to fill it by doing everything he can to bring Miles back to his side? I’d say the key choice fits pretty well. If Capcom REALLY wanted to steal my heart away and make me even MORE smitten than I already am they could have put it just a half step higher in B flat minor (my favorite key of all time. Beautiful midnight blue queen I love her so much) but their key choice reflects him too perfectly so I’m willing to overlook it.

And that’s about it, really! I hope you enjoyed reading my insights—Joking Motive is one of my favorite tracks so I'm glad we can be autistic about it together <3

#ask #kissingonclouds #raymond shields #aa #aai2 #music nerd shit #musical analysis #if anyone needs any of the terminology i used clarified. please ask. or consult google your choice #and please know that i am ALWAYS down to talk ace attorney music or pokemon music. this shit is what i live for

[originalaccountname]

ok so. "V", also known as "Angels", now (finally) confirmed to be the roman numeral for "5", and not the letter.

So obviously this is foreshadowing for the Decay of Angels.

(manga spoilers; run while you can)

We know the organization V wanted to get rid of all ability users, but were not against using abilities to do so; Mitamura was actively trying to recruit Ranpo. We also know that they were the real mastermind behind Murakami and the play writer's whole scheme, that they were using as a distraction to capture Natsume.

First off, I'm so happy it was Fyodor who confirmed the number 5 thing, because after reading Untold Origins, I couldn't help but think how Fyodor-like the plan was. We have these artists, these unrelated guys, with big aspirations, that were manipulated into doing something drastically out of proportion as a distraction, while there was something bigger happening on the side. And what does Fyodor do, beside manipulating people's feelings to create desperate monsters?

I don't have any problems with him showing up there, and while yes, maybe his design is exactly the same because this is the anime and not Harukawa finding new excuses to dress up characters in new outfits, but we know from interviews that Asagiri works closely with the anime team, and I don't think they'd do something that would completely contradict the story's overall plot line. They make dubious choices sometimes, but I'd hope there's a limit.

And, secondly, I'm almost certain the fact that the DoA are five people is only secondary to the name, not its reason. Let me bring you back to chapter 57, when the ADA received the job to uncover and stop them:

The "5" was for the five signs of a dying "angel", and the DoA was using them, not unlike with the letter to the theatre in Untold Origins, to warn them of an upcoming event. With the previous four (grisly) murders, it was easy to lure the ADA into their trap.

So V was most likely an old version of the DoA, with different people at the time, still working towards a similar goal, still with Fyodor calling the shots from the back.

I don't have big theories to add to this (beside my immortal Fyodor theory but that's another thing), I just needed to try and connect all these dots we suddenly unlocked because my brain has been buzzing with episode 40's revelations

Also. What's up with that play?? Angel?? Death?? Fallen Angels?? Betrayal?? Looking for an ability user?? It's too specific! I know V was looking for Natsume at that moment, but it's not enough. I feel like we were handed the answer to everything but can't rEAD IT

#also there was basically the same scenario in Gaiden with 12 people in a museum who were told there was a serial killer among them #so either this is an asagiri thing or we need to read into it #story this is for you if for no one else kjfhksdjfh #bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #bsd manga spoilers #bsd season 4 spoilers #bsd s4 spoilers #bsd meta #? #bsd analysis #?? #how does this work #apparently i talk sometimes

[nostalgebraist]

comments on almost nowhere for new readers

A few points that may be useful to people who didn't read Almost Nowhere before it was complete, but who are planning to read it now. (AKA "archival readers," as opposed to "serial readers.")

(1)

You'll want to read it fast enough that you don't lose track of the plot.

But, you probably shouldn't read it as quickly as you can. If you "binge-read" it over a very short span of time, some of the effect will be dulled or lost.

When planning out the story, I thought a lot about the reader's evolving state of knowledge. "What the reader knows" was almost like a character unto itself, and an important one.

For example:

I tried to create a enjoyable, continual "rotation" of mysteries, with new questions arising at the same time that old questions get answered, repeatedly across the course of the book.

In between the point when a question is raised and the point when it finally gets a definitive answer, I often tried to create a succession of interesting intermediate states. For example, the reader might first encounter something important in the form of an enigmatic, unexplained name or phrase, mentioned incidentally. Later, the same term starts appearing more often, and gets more coloration, and this coloration is different each time, so that the sum total of "what the reader knows" traces out a series of different "shapes" over time.

So you'll have the most fun if you stop regularly to savor your current state of knowledge. The questions that haven't been answered yet, the partial glimpses you've seen of things you don't fully get. Maybe even go back and re-read earlier bits, if you like.

(1b)

All that said, I also want to caution against viewing the book as a puzzle you're meant to be able to solve on your own, like a "fair-play whodunit."

I intended it to be fun for the reader to wonder about how the questions will be answered, but there's no pretense of playing fair. And that "fun" is often more aesthetic and thematic than it is intellectual.

(2)

Almost Nowhere is divided into 3 parts.

You can see them if you look at the table of contents. In Part 1, the chapter titles are Roman numerals. In Part 2, chapters have verbal titles, together with Arabic numerals that start over from zero. In Part 3, the Roman numerals resume again.

The three parts tell a single continuous story, and share most of the same major characters. But each one is somewhat distinct in its style, tone, themes, and areas of focus, and each one extends the scope of the plot considerably.

Maybe the closest comparison-point is a trilogy of SF/F novels, where each of the sequels is clearly "its own book" that feels distinct from the other two books, while still continuing the story in a coherent way.

I mention this here in the hope that these transitions will be less jarring if you're prepared in advance for them.

(2b)

In another, more "spiritual" sense, Almost Nowhere really has just two parts.

The transition happens at Chapter 13, which could fairly be grouped either into the first or the second part, or both, or neither.

Why? Up through Chapter 12, my planning for future events had been fairly slapdash and vague. I was still in the "throw stuff at the wall so I can create the real story by looking for patterns in it later" stage of my unusual creative process.

After Chapter 12, I thought "okay, that's enough of that. Vague inklings of the future aren't sufficient anymore. It's time to get start being more serious about my planning. It's time to 'create the real story.'"

So I did a bunch of that, and it profoundly shaped everything from Chapter 13 onward. (I don't know how obvious this transition would be if you didn't know about it beforehand; to me it feels very obvious, but maybe deceptively so.)

It goes deeper than that. Chapter 13 is tonally different than any of the preceding ones -- darker, more personal, with a new focus on obsession, bittersweet reflection on the past, regret, resignation. And, semi-accidentally, that ended up setting the tone for the whole rest of the book.

It's not all like that afterwards, to the same extent. But that stuff is always there, at least in the background.

I don't know if this is actually useful to know or not, but I felt like mentioning it, so there it is.

(3)

Like Floornight and TNC before it, Almost Nowhere is a hybrid.

It combines elements from a number of different genres and story types that would not normally be seen alongside one another. At the same time, it doesn't really belong to any of the genres or story types that it draws from.

This aspect of my fiction tends to elicit bimodal responses. When I mix one type of story with another, it tends to come off either as the best-of-both-worlds or the worst-of-both-worlds, depending on the reader.

Some people see five individually good "normal" books, merged into one and singing in harmony. And people see five half-assed attempts to do five different things, without following through on the promises of any one of them.

For example, I noted above that I put a lot of care into setting up mysteries, and I expected the reader to be very aware of them. And I also noted that the story isn't very rewarding if treated like a puzzle that can be "solved" in advance.

But some people are going to see the mysteries, and the care put into them, and think, "ah, I know (and enjoy) this genre, this is a puzzle you're supposed to work out in advance." And these people aren't wrong; it does kind of look like that, especially at the beginning.

Likewise, Almost Nowhere has several chapters that explain math and physics concepts to the characters and to the reader -- either real ones, or fictitious ones that have some pretense of continuity with real math and physics. Sometimes these get very involved, in the manner of Stephenson or Egan.

A reader who sees this stuff, and thinks "ah, I know (and enjoy) this genre," is likely to be disappointed when they discover that the story is not really about math or physics in any deep way. Certainly not about real math or physics. The invented "physics" is closer to the core of it, but less so than some other things -- and anyway, there is more of pure fantasy to it than serious scientific extrapolation.

Like Floornight, AN is arguably "best" described as a fantasy story, and not the GoT kind of fantasy -- the highly aestheticized, thematic, emotional kind of fantasy, where "feels" and "vibes" are almost literally magic and drive everything from the inside out.

But if you read it for that genre, specifically, it may feel odd that it keeps lapsing into long descriptions of nuts-and-bolts plot mechanics, and into laborious explanations of made-up technobabble. Or into setting up "puzzles" that almost feel solvable-in-advance.

Or just, like, being written in this really weird, particular, often opaque style.

I can't just say "leave all your genre preconceptions at the door," as if it were that simple -- as though one could just do that by force of will. But be aware that the elements you recognize, from other fiction, may not be there for the usual reasons.

But they are there for a reason.

When I think about why I write, I often come back to an answer that Andrew Hussie gave on Formspring long ago:

Q: Do you enjoy your own work? I mean if Homestuck was made by someone else and not you, is it the kind of thing you would like reading [...]? A: I am making the kind of thing I would want to read. I am making the kind of thing I wish existed, but doesn't. Yet.

I am doing that, too. I'm taking elements from all over, and building something else out of them. It looks deceptively like the sources it draws from, but it's very different from any of them, underneath.

If it had already existed, it would not have been necessary for me to invent it.

(4)

As I mentioned in the last bullet point, Almost Nowhere is written in a very particular style.

This style gets better-defined over time, and more ossified, and possibly more extreme. (Chapter 13 played the same role in this process as it did in various others, for instance.)

At various times, I've said that Almost Nowhere is my favorite of my stories, or the most ambitious or accomplished one, or the one I like most on re-reading. And that is all true -- in certain senses, anyway.

But I don't want to convey the impression that I think the "Almost Nowhere house style" is like, the epitome of Good Writing or something. Or even that it's my best writing, necessarily. It simply is what it is, as much for consistency's sake as anything else.

(I confess there were times when I looked back on something I'd just wrote, and thought to myself: "I'm not actually sure this is, like, good. Maybe it isn't. But is is definitely Almost-Nowherey, that's for sure." And then I let it stand, for that reason.)

In the best-case scenario, you'll find that you greatly enjoy the "Almost Nowhere house style." If it's not to your taste, hopefully you will find it at least tolerable enough that you can access and enjoy other aspects of the book.

But if you find that really dislike the style, this book is probably not for you, sorry.

It's over 300,000 words, and they're all like that. I wouldn't want someone to force themselves through 300k words while hating every one of them, in the name of finding out what happens, or being a nostalgebraist completionist, or whatever.

#almost nowhere

[ballet-symphonie]

I’m pretty sure there’s nepotism and other shit going on at New York City Ballet, and I’ve stopped following them:

-there’s children and grandchildren of former dancers who got into the company. Roman Mejia is Paul Mejia’s son, Shelby Mann is the granddaughter of Jacques d’Amboise and the daughter of Charlotte d’Amboise and Terrence Mann (Broadway legends!) it makes me suspicious. I mean, Nilas Martins was in the company too, so I’m not surprised nepotism is still going on with the younger dancers.

-apparently there was/is body shaming? even at SAB I’ve heard rumors of kids having eating disorders. Also not surprising considering that the people who worked with Balanchine wanted a look and it was Balanchine himself who started the “skinny ballerina” trend that quickly spread worldwide. Ashley Bouder spoke up about how the higher ups body shamed her on Instagram live like a year ago, and none/few of the company members commented for support. They just posted it on their story. In general, Balanchine companies/schools tend to have a lot of body shaming, especially with how they treated Kathryn Morgan at Miami CB. CPYB (Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet) has a bunch of horror stories on Instagram account called @/cpybstories if anyone wants to read.

-I don’t know if this is really BS, but they still cast roles based on height/size rather than talent. I was hoping for Tiler Peck to do Diamonds but she got Rubies. Same with Midsummer, she didn’t/doesn’t really get Titania because she’s on the shorter side and from what I’ve heard, NYCB likes their Titanias to be tall. (I’m guessing she probably will never get Titania, just because she lacks emotion in her dancing. Saw her in Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker and she barely acts.)

-the company is still predominantly white. Even PNB is more diverse than them. The BIPOC dancers like Nadon, Mejia, Furlan, Chan etc are only popular just because they fit Eurocentric views of POC (they have lighter skin and straighter hair) plus Nadon is only half South Asian, Mejia is half Peruvian, so they aren’t full blooded POC. The only POC in recent years that didn’t fit those ideals was Amar Ramasar. The kids who appear on stage for Nutcracker, Midsummer, Sleeping Beauty etc are more diverse than the actual company members.

-They didn’t handle Alexandra Waterbury’s case well. Ramasar should’ve been fired and in prison before the pandemic and from the West Side Story revival (that didn’t do well regardless). It also makes me mad that Alexa Malone (soloist) is still dating him and the fact that he’s now a stager too…like he might mess around with the underaged apprentices/corps and the cycle will start again

-Don’t get me started on people like John Clifford and how he wrote public, sexist comments on how he hates crotch shots because of platter tutus. He and a bunch of other older trust people still defend these beliefs to the death.

Hello, there's a lot in here!

Regarding nepotism, the company definitely has a history of hiring both siblings and relatives. I would extend this to ballet in general, many successful dancers today are from dance families, such as Chloe Misseldine, Daniil Simkin, Maia Makhatelli, Vadim Muntigirov, Dmitri Smilevsky, Issac Hernandez etc. But I don't think that inherently means that the dancers benefiting from that knowledge base (knowing what to do, where to train, how to structure their day, exta tips and coaching etc) are undeserving of there spots. I don't think you can watch Meija dance and think he doesn't deserve to be where he is.

On body shaming. Yes, none of this is positive and none of it is news either. There has been a history of toxic body shaming culture at nearly every major ballet school worldwide. Balanchine companies have had a nasty history but so have numerous Russian, European, and Asian schools. It's not a problem exclusive to SAB/NYCB.

Yes, NYCB typecasts. I'm honestly quite a fan of it because I don't think it's realistic or responsible to expect every dancer to do everything well and it results in dancers on stage in roles that they're confident in and suit their strengths- which generally leads to better performances. I don't think there's a single dancer at City Ballet who has done all three leading roles in Jewels, Peck is not an exception. I don't believe it's height/size over talent, but a complementary mix of both. Some roles have been designated by the choreographer for X skills and others have been historically dominated by dancers with X skills. And like you mention, there are lots of other factors affecting casting besides just height, acting, vulnerability, partnership, and logistics, which all play a role.

I'm not sure I agree with you that the dancers you mentioned get attention because they are POC who fit Eurocentric standards. Chan and Nadon rightfully got attention for breaking barriers and becoming the first Asian principals at the company. Both have spoken at length aobut how their cultural background and upbringing has both helped and hindered their path. I'd argue Meija gets far more attention from his father than he does from his race and Furlan (if we're considering him popular which I probably wouldn't) for his technical merit. I also think you aren't looking at NYCB's soloist rank fairly, they have Black, Asian, and Hispanic dancers at this rank. Of course, the company certainly could be more diverse but they have the self-imposed limitation of hiring nearly exclusively out of SAB. You yourself noted that the school is more diverse, this is a result of several of their scholarship and outreach programs that have been implemented in the past decade or so. Those programs are long-term investments, they are building a more diverse company now - but these dancers are still in the school. And for what it's worth, PNB is not a low bar, it is by far the most diverse major company in the US and has made hiring decisions accordingly. Approximately 50% of the company is POC which is awesome- but this realistically isn't possible at NYCB because they're not going to be hiring from outside as frequently.

Of course, if not following NYCB would make you happier, then by all means do it. But if these issues are what's causing you distress, I don't think the solution is to simply follow other companies- many of these problems exist across the industy.

Regarding the Waterbury Case, I don't disagree with you but the law is complicated. I remeber reading the case when it came out and I think the main problem is that the case wasn't able to get to discovery because she didn't have enough facutal evidence. If that had happened, I imagine things would have looked a lot different. While I absolutley believe her, she was trying to fight too many battles at once, some of which weren't directly hers, and she didn't have hard concrete proof for most of it. Everything got muddled and I don't think she had the best council either. I don't have any doubt that there's so much more here that exists only in the memories of the individuals involved. But that doesn't count in front of a court - it's about what you can prove not what happened. And NYCB's liability is limited because she was neither an employee nor a student at the time of firing.

However, while I have no comment about his personal life, I agree with you about Ramasar's line of work. It's unfortunate and incredibly disappointing how the dance world regularly absolves men like Ramasar (he's not alone) and basically gifts them back their careers. I could list a whole troupe of men who've been given second chances they don't deserve. Winning in court is an uphill battle, especially when the prosecution is often not coming from a place of strength. I just hope that the slow but steady changes happening in the industry now will prevent history from repeating itself.

And Clifford....I don't have the energy to start with. There's a reason NYCB hasn't hired him back , he's not consistently teaching or running a company, and he's just running his mouth on IG.

#nycb #ballet #ballet rant #will not be tagging names obv

[blackberry-gingham]

Give me your favourite blorbos and favourite headcanon for them

Is this a Christmas present for me anon? Bc if it is, I love it and thank you 😚💖😭😭

I have a lot of characters I like, but as far as absolute faves rn, here's Gambit and Nightcrawler :) thank you so much for this generous ask and enjoy!

Gambit

Gambit's father tried to send Remy to receive formal education as a kid, but Gambit wasn't very cooperative about it (like, at all) and so he never finished

You would hardly know this though, as Gambit is not only, of course, able to read and write perfectly- but he is also bilingual (English and French), can write in cursive, and can read Roman numerals

Gambit grew up Catholic in comic canon, but as an adult he now carries and proclaims himself as atheist (this is also canon, I believe) however, in his heart of hearts, he's really more agnostic

Sometimes in dark hours, he will pray the rosary to soothe himself. That and, very rarely, he can sometimes be found sitting in the local chapel- just to think, he says

Also in comic canon, Gambit dreams of having a family and wants to be a dad one day- as for the headcannon, he'll never say a preference aloud, but secretly he hopes to have mostly girls

He has learned to braid and tie those big, glittery hair bows in preparation for this, but he would die before letting on about either of those skills

This is canon as far as the cartoon is concerned, but just for the record I hc that not only is Gambit indeed a really great cook, but it is also secretly one of his hobbies

Here's something interesting- in comic canon Gambit has his powers surgically reduced by Mr sinister so that he can better control them. For the hc, I believe this is where their red color comes from, but when he was at full power, his eyes were purple

Free fun fact! But this is how you can tell if the gambit I'm writing or drawing is at his full, godly power or not- I intentionally depict him with either color to suit my story/imagination

This might be actually controversial to some, but I am in this category of women myself, so do not fear: Gambit secretly is very (VERY) into curvy women, especially after having grown up in the south (he's a hips and thighs guy, if you're curious)

However, and this is the controversial part, he's one of Those Guys™ that feels ashamed of attraction, so he will very rarely pursue or even entertain them if anyone he knows is watching

If he thinks he can get away with it privately tho- he most definitely will go for it

In a world where he either doesn't end up with rogue or something tho, this weird embarrassment thing goes away entirely as he gets a little older and more emotionally mature

For my followers: this reservation does not exist at all in regards to dad bod Gambit. He proudly enjoys great food AND fine ass women- no holds barred

Gambit's love language is quality time, his myer briggs is ESTP, his sign is Leo, he's about 6'4 (I like to imagine him a little extra tall), and if you see me write/draw him with a dad bod he's at least about 34 years old

Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler cannot swim, at least- not formally

This has nothing to do with physical ability, but rather that he just never learned, mostly bc he has/had no need

He's never had any formal education either, and only learned to read and write at the monastery in his early 20s

This also means he barely spoke English until meeting the professor- now, he's fully fluent tho

I feel that some people are going to act like this is controversial, even tho it shouldn't be lmao- but I hc that Kurt is a virgin

I don't care what the comics say/imply or how old he is: on this blog he takes his faith very seriously and is waiting for marriage

While he grew up staunchly Catholic, as he has gotten older and had more opportunities to study religion on his own, he later converted to Christianity

On the subject of older Nightcrawler- as he ages, certain attributes of his mutation become more pronounced: his fur grows to a thicker, almost woolly texture, his top fangs are longer and protrude from his lip, and he gains slightly keener senses more akin to Wolverine's

On that note- Kurt's hair is naturally curly (although he does nothing to care for it) so once his fur starts growing thicker, this is where it gains it's interesting sherpa like quality instead of just the short, velvet like fuzz he's known for

While his human disguise changes all the time from comic to comic, I like to headcannon that Kurt's disguise is just his natural face and hair, but with human colors- obviously

I toyed with the idea that his human hair would be red/ginger like mother mystique, but ultimately I hc it to be a very light blonde and his eyes are honey brown

On virtue of being an extremely thin man, Kurt ALSO is strongly attracted to full figured women- unlike Gambit tho, at no point in his life does this attraction bother him nor impede his romantic pursuits

Kurt's love language is physical touch, his myer briggs is INFP, his sign is Cancer, and if you see me draw/write him with a dad bod he's probably about 38 years old

#i could write hcs just for dad bod versions of these characters tbh- but i shall restrain myself #im so happy rn like you legit have no idea #XMEN CONTENTTTTTTT WOOOOHOOOOOO #nightcrawler x reader #gambit x reader #marvel xmen

[tryan-a-bex]

King of Night and Prince of Day

Based on the gorgeous art of @nathanwonderwolf. Please open the art (ao3 or tumblr) and look at the image for each Roman numeral before reading. (Note: in the tumblr post the last two images are reversed.) [ao3]

I

“Kill me now, King of Night, but my people will never stop fighting!”

“On the contrary, Prince Robert of Day, you have been a worthy opponent and I detest waste. I propose an alliance. Sealed by marriage.”

“I have no unmarried sisters.”

“I would marry you.”

Oh, shit, Hob thought, looking up at the gorgeous King of Night and Dreams.

“I accept.”

II

The boat was decked with flowers for victory, but the crowd was scarce and silent as they neared the dock. 

“I want you to know I have my eye on you,” the Nightmare General warned Hob. “You may have agreed to this, but the war is not over and I have no reason to trust you.”

Hob fixed his eyes on the King, who was standing majestically in the prow of the boat. “The real war is against the Morningstar, who stole Dawn from all of us when she Fell. I disagreed with my father when he refused to let you cross our land to take the war to her, and I will gladly fight by your side until she is finished.”

The General grunted sceptically in response.

”You can trust me,” Hob replied blithely, and the General saw that his heart already belonged to the King.

*

“I crown you, Robert Gadling of Day, Prince-Consort of the Realm of Night and Dreams.”

III

“I take you, Robert Gadling of Day, as my consort, and swear to remain true to you for the rest of my nights.”

“I swear to defend this Realm with my sword and my life, and to remain true to you, Dream Endless, King of Night and Dreams, for the rest of my days.”

IV

“Do not worry, Robert. I will not touch you unless you want me to,” Dream whispered in his ear that night as he left for his adjoining chamber.

Well, this is awkward, thought Hob. How do I tell him that I’m nervous because I’m attracted to him and he seems so unattainable, not because I’m only here for the politics of it all? 

V

“Lucifer Morningstar is moving again. Our new allies, the Kingdom of Day, are requesting our aid in repelling her advances,”  the Nightmare General briefed the council.

“I will go,” Dream pronounced.

“No,” chorused the General, Hob and several advisors. 

“In this case, your skills with magic are better put to use here, where you can weaken the Morningstar’s influence over her followers using all your arcane paraphernalia,” the General argued.

“I will go with the army,” Hob volunteered. “You can give me a talisman connecting us, to carry the magic to her.”

“I have an additional idea, then, if you must go,” Dream conceded.

The next morning, Hob departed under Night’s banner, the Nightmare General by his side, an iron circlet binding his forehead and an ancient sword at his side.

VI

“Dawn cedes to Day, Morningstar!”

Lucifer laughed mockingly at him. “I’ve broken your silly magical talisman. All you have left is your Day Sword. Surely you don’t think you can harm me with that!” She swiped at his side, her claws piercing his armor and scoring a deep wound.

Hob used the last of his strength to plunge his sword through her neck.

“This is the Sword of Evening, my true love’s gift!”

Fear entered her eyes as Evening, bane of Dawn, drank down her immortality.

I sure hope that’s done it, Hob thought as he collapsed on top of her.

VII

What am I going to do without him? Dream wondered as the Day Sword shattered in the magical glass he’d suspended it in. Robert’s blood dripped from the glass, and the horns and candles bound to his circlet smoked red.

How will I go on, even if the Morningstar is defeated, without my love? When…when did I start to love him, and why did I not realize this sooner? There are so many things I wish I had said to him.

VIII

“Robert! Robert, don’t leave me…I love you,” Dream sobbed over his consort’s wounded form.

“Ooooohhhh,” groaned Hob, briefly regaining consciousness. “Hob, it’s Hob. I love you too, you know.” His head fell back on the pillow again and Dream clutched desperately at him. 

“Let it happen,” Hob whispered. ”I’ll come back to you anyway. Kiss me, my lord.”

“I love you, Hob,” Dream moaned, and took his hand, and bent his head, and pressed their lips together at long last. 

IX

Dream sat vigil beside Hob’s body as it lay beneath the sheet. 

“We won, you know. My magic weakened the Morningstar enough that your blow with the Sword of Evening was enough to destroy not only her current body but her immortality as well. Haha. It just occurred to me that that Sword is significantly more powerful when gifted in the service of true love. I guess we didn’t even know we were doing that. But anyway. You killed her.” Dream worried the bloodied bandage still in his hand, then took Hob’s pale hand in his own.

“I hope you are correct that this is not an immortally fatal wound. I hope it heals overnight, now that I’ve neutralized Morningstar’s magic. Oh, Hob, I hope we have many more nights and days together, so that I can tell you how much I love you.”

X

“Aaarrrrgggghhh!” Hob screamed and arched from the bed. Dream pulled the sheet from him and cradled him in his arms.

“Hob…Hob, are you okay?”

“Argh, Dream! Oh … Ah! … Yes… yes. Yes, I think I’m going to be okay now. Phew, that last bit was rough!”

Dream clasped him in his arms. “I’m never going to let you go again.”

XI

Hob rejoiced as Dawn began to break over the now-joined Kingdoms. “Last Night was the first dark Night the people of Day have had in some time.”

“It has been months since the people of Night have seen a clear Day.” Dream lifted Hob’s hand and bowed his head to kiss it.

XII

The people of Night and Day cheered wildly as Day broke more fully in the sky. Dream, King of Night and Dreams, and Robert, Prince of Day and Prince-Consort of Night and Dreams, smiled out at them.

“This is your doing, my love,” Dream whispered into Hob’s ear as he leaned against him.

“No, my heart, we did it together.”

***

Many thanks to my beta reader @dreamerinsilico for helping me polish this one!

#dreamling #dream of the endless #hob gadling #lucifer morningstar #fantasy au #fairy tale au #arranged marriage au #they're idiots your honor #tw blood #tw gore #tw temporary death #the sandman fanfiction #tryana find it back

[diamond-punk0963]

Descending Through Madness: Mad Hatter!Spencer Charnas HCs

(Note: My recent request from @starshoteyes is what pulled me into making this post. Huge shout out to them! I hope you like this!)

~Headcanons~

Spencer would be more of a horror take on the mad man rather than what people would usually think of the mad hatter as.

Is obsessed with the number, nine. (Keeps everything in sets of nine)

Carries pocket knives with him in his jacket at all times. (To play with or use as a weapon)

He has zero idea how many pocket knives he owns. (He just usually takes them with him and goes on with his day)

If he were to unload every knife he has, it would take HOURS for him to be fully unarmed. (Even then, he probably had a few on him that he forgotten about)

Lives in a dark forest, away from civilization. (Mainly because he’s an outcast from the local towns and kingdoms)

Has probably drank blood that was mixed into his tea without noticing. (I’ll let you decide how it got there)

A common thief (he doesn’t have a job because no one will hire him) in stealing tea and whatever items he can get his hands on. (He’s gotten himself into trouble, due to this)

His tea set is made up of cracked, broken tea cups that he either stole or found as it was left abandoned. (Again, can’t afford a proper set so he would have to make due with that he can grab)

Often gets tangled within the straps of his jacket. (He would either need help with getting untangled or he just finds a way to operate while being tangled)

He doesn’t have a favorite flavor of tea but would take any red-colored tea that would look the closest to blood as possible.

His clothes were also something that he stole over the years. (Probably modified to fit him better)

Loves messing around with other people, playing his game of insanity towards those who would fall into his trap.

When it comes to food, it would also be something he needed to steal for survival. (It isn’t all that great, not having any coins for food supplies)

Perceived as insane but really, his thought process is just different than everyone else’s. (He wishes someone could understand him, though.)

Has a soft red blanket to keep himself warm for when he sleeps either at his tea table or at the small house that he lives in. (House was abandoned but he managed to keep it lively as much as he could.)

Doesn’t speak in riddles or rhymes but will probably talk your ear off about spooky stories. (He loves anything spooky.)

Made his hat from materials he managed to obtain and random stuff that he could find within the nearest villages.

His fingerless gloves (not pictured in photo) were something that Spencer made on his own.

Due to his low income, a lot of what Spencer has is either stolen, abandoned, or made by his own hands. (He learned to be crafty at a young age)

Has major sweet tooth. (Strawberry tarts and cherry filled pastries are his favorite)

Has a TERRIBLE sense of direction. (Literally gets lost in the forest, almost every single day. Only way that he didn’t get lost was because he carved roman numerals of nine onto trees to guide his way home.)

Prized possession of his is a stuffed rabbit that he kept as a kid. (Sometimes, he cuddles with it in his sleep if he’s having nightmares)

Loves reading books in his spare time. (Has a small collection of books in his small house)

Very much introverted by default. (Doesn’t have much friends from being isolated from everyone in his home)

He would have tea parties on his own. (Which basically involves him just sipping on tea and wandering through the tea party area)

Has a habit of carving the nine roman numeral on anything he can use his knife on. (It helps him occupy his mind)

Has he ever killed anyone? Not even he knows the answer to that question. (He probably has)

Probably has scars on his hands from the number of times that he has cut himself from playing with his pocket knives. (May have gotten the nine numeral scar at the palm of his hand, due to it)

Uses his gloves (fingerless or fully covered) to cover up his hand scars. (Gets a little self-conscious about it but half of the time, he just doesn’t care about it)

Huge addict to anything strawberry and cherry related. (Again, it reminds him of blood. The dark it is, the better)

Probably paints his nails black or dark red. He does mix-match on the polish. (He gets polish on his fingers but keeps it because he likes the mess of it.)

Looks like he could kill you but he’s actually a cinnamon roll. (Probably the type that’s messed up in the head but he means well)

Keeps a broken pocket in his jacket, always stuck on nine o’clock. Inside, there’s an old picture that he doesn’t let anyone see. (The one items he keeps close to his heart, literally)

Although he likes the quiet atmosphere, he does crave having a companion. (Tried making friends in the past but failed since no one wanted to hang around someone like him)

#spencer charnas #spencer charnas headcanons #ice nine kills #ice nine kills headcanons #mad hatter aesthetic #mad hatter #mad hatter headcanons #dark aesthetic #dark wonderland #Spotify

[tempest-toss]

Freedom

As the beeping from the transporter grew in volume, Matthias knew he needed to go fast. He picked up Martin and successfully dropped him on the transporter, and in a bright flash he was sent away. Opting for a strategic route he grabbed the shoulders of the plague doctor man and began lugging him over slowly. Thankfully Usagi appeared back and helped lift the legs, and soon they were able to make it to the transporter.

As they set him down and he warped away, the large man came back, carrying a goth-looking teen. He set him down and watched him warp away. The man turned and gave a sharp whistle, and Tim-Tam came running up and jumped on the pad. He then turned to address Matthias.

"If you want to be saved, I expect you to follow." And with that he stepped on and disappeared. Matthias went to grab Usagi's arm, but he dodged.

"I can't leave." Usagi mumbled, his ears wilting in sadness. "This is my home, and I can't abandon everybody. I hope you understand, and that you will promise to come back?" He gave a hug as Regina began to awake.

"You...You FUCKING TRAITOR!" She screamed as she prepared to fire from her staff. Usagi shoved Matthias onto the transporter and vanished, just as the machine overloaded and exploded. Matthias had escaped. "You." Regina spoke coldly, as everyone finally regained consciousness. "I will enjoy breaking every bone in your body." She grinned cruelly as Usagi tried to not show his fear, as he knew that she was going to publically torture him in front of everyone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Matthias appeared outside of the Troupe he initially cheered, before realizing that he was in an unfamiliar area. In fact he was i an unfamiliar area surrounded by fourteen figures all in black; they were practically silhouettes, only having the whites of outlines, eyes, and large roman numerals on their chests. It felt otherworldly.

"Ah, Matthias, I'm glad you survived," The voice of the large could be man be heard as he approached the empty seat. "Now, my colleagues and I have some questions for you," He spoke as he pushed a button on his tie, his body slowly becoming cloaked as he began to resemble that of colleagues, with a large roman numeral IV on his chest. "Let us begin," he spoke in a modulated voice. Matthias had a feeling that he was in for a long interrogation

Meanwhile all the saved individuals reappeared at Site-230, where they were rushed to the infirmary for any injuries. Perhaps after a speedy recovery, they will be more apt to talk? But you can ask them yourself...won't you?

(Heya Mun Ozzie here, and thank you for enjoying (or enduring) this event! I had a lot of fun with it, being able to explore one of my GOIs and a slice of the characters and worldbuilding associated with it! I hope to do more things like this in the future! If you have any suggestions for tweaks I'm all ears! Once again, thank you for reading!)

FINAL RESULTS (for consistency)

Threat Level: Nonexistant Remaining Survivors: 1/16 Injuries: Light scratches, crushed rib Mental state: Confused and worried Key Items: Notebook with partial map sketch

#adjusted results from a potential tampering) #Event: The Shadows Claim Us

[tiptopmushroom]

Ive been thinking about the added classes thing. Although only two mystery classes have been revealed so far, I do think some may be added or shown later in development to make for at least a 5 5 5 setup.

If there were to be another attack class, I could see some type of spead wielding class since that would make sense alongside the rest of the fighting classes.

For the gathering class, I could definitely see some type of food foraging type of deal that would boost dexterity. This could lead to 'boss fights' in different areas like pulling up giant carrots or something similar. It could reallycfit an island aesthetic, and I may be reading too far into things, but maybe the apple picking was a hint towards it.

I don't fully know what could be the construction class, maybe some kind of mechanic? You would be able to build a bunch of different enhancements for your mecha which would stall the time until you can excavate. I don't think it would stop at just your town, I think you would be able to make battle mechs that you can mount and ride into battle or maybe a bike to get around areas faster than running.

The game does look pretty neat tho, I hope it's good. I also wonder how some of the old characters got into the game. Time vortex maaybe? What does the i mean? Is the forth meaning meant to be a roman numeral? Is this game related to the second biggest galaxy tree that was growing in the starlight garden that said you might get sucked in? There is so much I want to know about T T

#fantasy life 3ds #fantasy life #fantasy life i #fantasy life i the girl who steals time #fantasylife #fantasylifei #fantasylifeithegirlwhostealstime

[anotherstudybrownie]

How I study 🍬

Hey, you! Are you one of those people who don’t know how to study effectively? If that’s your case, this is the right place. I’m gonna tell you how I study, my planifying techniques and more tips! Continue reading for more.

⚠ It isn’t guaranteed to work for everyone. This is only based on my experience.

When a techer tells me when I have an exam, the first thing I do is write everything I need to study. Then, depending on the time I have each day and how much I have to study, I organise my study time. I write specific things I have to study and activities I’m gonna do. Here’s an example:

Monday: do 5 equations

Tuesday: do another 10 equations + read number theory and do a mindmap + 15 roman numerals to numbers + 15 numbers to roman numerals

Wednesday: do 5 equations

Thursday: do 15 equations + review number theory + 15 roman numerals to numbers + 15 numbers to roman numerals

Friday: exam

⚠ Most of the classes are more theorical, so the type of schedule depends on it.

When I’m studying, I like to make mindmaps and flashcards with the notes I’ve taken in class. Normally I do them simple but cute, because having beautiful mindmaps or notes motivates me to study. Another technique I use is explaining what I learned to someone of my familiy or just to myself. I expain it aloud beacuse it helps memorizing and then in the exam you’ll be able to explain the concept correctly. Also, I use webpages like educaplay for practising in a fun way!

For organising all my life (not only academic), I use Notion (I just started this month). I’ve tried Notion so many times and it didn’t work for me, but now that I’ve tried Dobochobo’s template I feel that I’m finally using it as I wanted to! For me, Notion is perfect because you can do A LOT of things in the same place and make it so pretty 🤗. This, for example, has been written in Notion.

Finally, I want to speak about the importance of an agenda and of resting. First of all, the agenda. I always write in my agenda the assignments teachers give me or the exams I have, because my mind is a mess and normally I don’t remember any date 😅, but when I write it in my agenda, I just need to take it and have a look when I come home.

Also, resting is really important! I know a lot of people who study 8 hours each day (or more!) or that don’t have time for themselves. I found this very stressful and I know this isn’t good. Please, rest, or your mental exhaustion will be really high! It’s important to find a balance (I’m trying to find it so hard) between studying and resting. Remember it, please!

This is all, guys! I hope you liked my post 🌷

#studying #studyblr #how to study #cute #notion #stay productive #productive #being productive #productivity #study tips #resting #agenda #blog #anime images

[starilicious]

mere haath mein (echo x gn!reader)

this is the series masterlist!

》 summary: reader and echo's love story from strangers to friends to lovers throughout the clone wars (a 4+1 type of story)

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 4.5.1 | part 4.5.2 | part +1

click here to read on AO3

》 total word count of all parts: ~11.3k

》 warnings: none

》 spoilers: none (except for stuff in tcw if u count that as spoilers lol)

》 a/n: okay so i find it very annoying that echo doesn’t have a hand that works with his scomp probe link thing. like hello???? star wars is filled to the brim with amazing technology and yet no one can help echo out? THEY CAN MAKE ENHANCED CLONES BUT CAN’T GIVE HIM A HAND????? (both literally and figuratively) anyway, as an engineer and someone who is infuriated by the fact that he has to do so many things one-handed, i decided to take this matter into my own hands (haHA–okay sorry that was pretty bad). the build-up of this story REALLY got away from me and became a 4+1 kinda thing in which most of it is creating echo’s and the reader’s relationship, but i think it turned out pretty well. hope you enjoy my thinly-veiled disgust at disney for not treating his character well!

》 misc. notes:

• title of the fic is from the hindi song “mere haath mein” from the film fanaa. i’ve linked the song (in blue) with some pretty good english translations in case you would like to take a listen, but it isn’t necessary for the fic–i just thought it fit well!

• this fic ended up being much longer than i expected. as a result, i decided to break it down into parts for easier reading. i’ll update every friday/saturday!

• it’s kinda random, but i notice roman numerals are often used when designating parts. so to spice it up a bit, i decided to use devanagari numerals instead, but i put the regular numerals next to them in case you would like a translation, so to speak

#echo #star wars #tbb #the bad batch #bad batch #the bad batch x reader #echo x reader #the bad batch echo #clone x reader #clone x you #clone trooper echo #the clone wars #arc trooper echo x reader #arc trooper echo #arc trooper echo x you #star wars fic

[chattingwiththelightkeeper]

Join Me In A Little Celebrating Today

Good day everyone and welcome to my birthday, please feel free to celebrate with me on this amazing day. So to start with, I will answer the question that comes to mind most when they hear it is someone’s birthday, I am fifty-one. Nothing makes you feel momentarily really old, at least for me than typing out your age. Perhaps if it put it in Roman numerals, it would sound both younger and cooler, how about I say I am “LI” or since most of those who are reading this are kinky people the Romans can make it sound extra pornish “XXXXXI”. Perhaps all those x’s would make it sound like my life is one erotic, direct to a streaming service, “thriller”.

The amazing thing about this is that I do not feel a day over twenty-five but I am now double that plus one. This might sound odd, especially for someone who might be around twenty-five reading this is that I love where I am at and who I am more today than I did then. I am not saying I was an unhappy or dreary twenty-something because I certainly was not, but I have grown into being a better version of myself as I have matured.

Anyway, rather than turn this into a long, boring-ass bit about all the lessons I have learned through life, I would rather just ask that you join me in celebrating my never-ending journey to be a better me. Also, feel free to say hello anytime I enjoy making new friends. Maybe it is just me but sometimes it can seem hard, especially online, to reach out to a stranger without a valid reason, so if you are like me in that regard, use my little day of celebration as a reason to reach out.

I will end this note with a simple thank you. When I started my blogging adventure, I never in a million years expected to have as many followers as have tagged along, so thank you to everyone who has joined me as I share my thoughts. I hope everyone has a great day and I am not sorry to say I am not going to save you any cake because I love cake, it is my day, so I am not saving any extra for anyone but me. I cannot wait for what is next in life!

 As with all of my writings, please see this disclaimer.

©TLK2022

[ratgingi]

[weakly crawls in] can . can you spare a bit of Mr Jackson Coxx lore and information. I am obsessed with his repressed dumbass in a "beee who you are for yourrrr prideeee" manner

ofc....... im glad his swagless demeanor has captivated u . jackson momence under cut

1. his name is an incredibly obvious pun . his middle name makes it funnier but if you ask him what it is he'll just tell you its jackson again. the only person who knows what his true middle name is is exie but she also has an embarrassing relationship with her name and is taking it to her grave. if you do not accept his double jackson answer and insist on finding out what it is he will probably cry

2. hes very cring yes but he IS actually decently strong, he can carry things much heavier than him for extended amounts of time and of my ocs the only person who can lift more than him is juniper (and it isnt by much, its like maybe 2 pounds more or smth and she cannot do it consistently like he can but she holds it over his head) with lillith being a close second to him

3. he has a mother who lives out of town that he writes letters to. moved to dialtown for a fresh start in a new place n' all that. michy has personally delivered a few of the letters for him

4. all of his Issues (tm) are very internalized. he hasnt nor will he ever project them onto another person, nd this would actually be a thing thtd be touched on in his route a little

5. hed have two bad ends, one where you fuck him up worse and the shit yourself and die end where you end up getting looney-toons flattened by weights in the gym after a failed bet from juniper

6. hes not very good at sticking up for people (himself or otherwise) and crumbles easy under pressure. he relies a lot on being tall and looking strong in the hopes people leave him be

7. he and jerry are acquainted from a few times where he'd been hired to move heavy equipment in the funfair

8. he has an insanely unhealthy diet but would never admit it, he insists that he is incredibly healthy and fit

9. the only other routes he would appear in are margos (during a scene between the player and juniper) and randys (as someone you could approach and ask if he'd seen randy around, to which hed say he didn't really know the guy but hadn't seen him at the park and would wish you luck finding him)

10. hes got a good bit of practical intelligence. he can adapt to situations pretty well. however do not ask him to do complex brain things if its for something important because he Will answer incorrectly and do so with complete confidence that hes right

11. he cant read roman numerals and thats why his watch has a digital display

12. along with michy and outis, hes one of my more 'social' ocs, which basically just means hes aware of a number of the others rather than just sticking to his set little group. the only people he actively considers friends / acquaintances though are michy, exie, and juniper

13. in chapter 3 when you meet him, he would have a sprite showing that his gym bag has a small pride flag pin on it. he'd mention that while hes not totally past his problem hes been trying to do more active interacting with the community and learning abt/becoming more comfortable with himself. baby steps :-]

#i bully him a lot but hes doin his best <3 #interactions #jack dlc #dlc wiki

[lovebvni]

hi, my name is laia 🪼 can you tell me if i’m going to wake up in the void state soon? thank you so much 🫶🏻🫶🏻

hello laia!! that is such a pretty name. it reminds me of hawaii, beaches and freedom <3 ( also totally unrelated but jellyfish are a sign for me and i never knew they had a jellyfish emoji!! )

Will You Enter The Void Soon?

”with persistence comes success.”

the shufflemancy song that goes with this is ‘hips don’t lie’ by shakira feat. wyclef jean. kinda playing into the travel/beaches and freedom thing. specifically the line “so be wise and keep on reading the signs of my body.”

so you’re getting signs that this is happening. both in your physical body and the physical word around you. you’re seeing the signs, and you’re making the actions which will ultimately lead to your success in enter the void.

so, i’m getting a maybe, leaning to a yes.

this was confirmed when i accidentally skipped the song 💀💀 and ‘spy?’ by whokilledxix came on. xix is the roman numeral version of the number 19. in tarot, major arcana car 19 is the sun. usually meaning that hardships are over and “new beginnings are on the horizon.” although, entering the void technically isn’t a new beginning, it is reaching a goal and causing a new beginning in your manifestations. the universe is working in your favor.

i hope this message resonates, laia!! i love u so much, and the universe is going to bless you with everything you want and more <3 the line “i’ve got my eye on you” from lana del ray’s “say yes to heaven” came to mind!!

#abyss .answers #void state #manifest #manifestations #law of manifestation #manifestation #manifesting #law of attraction #loa

[garland-on-thy-brow]

The Death of Caesar (La morte di Cesare) - Gaetano Sertor 1788, translated by me.

Previous scene.

ACT I.

SCENE 6.

An ample and beautifully decorated place at the foot of the Capitol, from which, with triumphal pomp, with numerous retinue, and amidst the usual cheering of the populace, Caesar descends. Brutus, Cassius, Porcia, Albinus, and Antony stand in front of others.

Chorus with dance. Invincible general, victory follows you in every undertaking. You are the glory of Rome, the honour of our age. Caesar. If my soul is ignited with the fair desire for glory in every undertaking, the sole object of my wishes is the happiness of all. Chorus with dance. Invincible general, victory etc.

Caesar. Romans, I have never returned to you more happy. Heaven smiled on my wishes. Spain no more gives us any reason to fear. I fought for you: for you, I won. Antony, Cassius, Albinus, rejoice with me. And you, dear Brutus, come to my bosom; embrace your tender friend.

Brutus (aside). (Heaven!)

Caesar. Brutus, you are silent? You refuse Caesar a cherished embrace? Are you no longer the same Brutus?

Brutus. Julius, I swear I am the same both for Rome and for you.

Caesar. Of all the mortals, you are the dearest to me: I seek from you no more than equal tenderness. Porcia, tell me, can I hope for this from him?

Porcia. I wish it, at least; and if Brutus loved you as much as Porcia does, believe me, I would be completely happy.

Antony. My lord, you were born for the glory of Rome.

Cassius. (Worthless man!)

Caesar. But where, where is my wife? Why does she, knowing I have arrived, tarry to come and join me in celebration among those dearest to me?

Antony. Here she comes.

[Link to the original, via Corago.]

Original text under the read more.

#caesar is trying to pull brutus; porcia greets caesar with an ominous toast; cassius continues to despise antony! #la morte di cesare english translation #la morte di cesare #opera #translation #porcia catonis #marcus junius brutus #gaius cassius longinus #mark antony