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bunnyinatree · 2 years

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I decided to combine two of my interests and brainstorm which schools of magic the Death Note characters would main if they had played Wizard101 growing up. My thoughts are beneath the cut!

Light would be a Fire wizard, because I associate that school with obnoxious men who often compete rather than cooperate with other players because they want to be the main hitter. He prioritizes high offense over high defense and can get around shields with DoT spells. (Also, Immolate is a pretty good metaphor for what Light does to himself during the Yotsuba Arc!)

L would be an Ice wizard, to contrast with Light (and so they can be super-effective against each other). In my experience, male Ice wizards often got flack for choosing "a feminine school," so this can reflect L's queer energy. I also think that the taunting component of certain Ice spells fits L nicely, and spells such as Ice Armor would explain why Light finds L so hard to kill.

If Light chooses an elaborate, three-part name such as Adam Nighthunter, then it would be funny if L went with a short one such as "Elie." Bonus points if he wears some of the less-gendered gear and has to endure other male wizards asking, "Are you a girl?" and trying to flirt with him. Bonus bonus points if Light did this once and now can't decide whether he should pretend like it never happened or dig in his heels and insist that he's always known that Elie was a male-exclusive name and decided to flirt with L anyway.

I think that Light would hate L in the context of Wizard101, because L would be so good without any visible effort. Light would spend 50 hours farming a boss for the best boots, or he would dedicate his entire weekend to farming Loremaster with nothing to show for it, while L would be drawing the Ultra Rare 4-person mount from a free seasonal pack and complaining to people on chat forums that it took him “almost thirty runs to get Pigsie.”

Just as Light and L are opposites (Fire and Ice), Near and Mello would be a Myth and a Storm wizard, respectively.

Mello would be a good fit for a Storm wizard, because he can do a lot of damage, but his spells often fizzle, and he frequently dies before the battle is over. Other players would use him for his heavy hitting, but that strategy wouldn't be viable for soloing much—although I'm sure that wouldn't stop Mello from trying. Also, Storm and Fire are similar schools, and I think that Light and Mello are similar characters. Both are too pretentious for their own good.

Near would be a Myth wizard, because both are given a hard time by fans for being "boring." Back when the game was new, I remember minions being the main draw to the Myth school. But plenty of people thought that they didn't need to summon minions to fight well, so it was seen as childish and a waste of everyone's time to summon a creature that would mess up traps, provide useless shields, etc. etc.

If Myth was seen as the most childish school, then I think it would fit well with Near, one of the youngest characters in Death Note who, like the Myth school, is very imaginative and surprisingly competent. (Also, I think that Near deserves to have a pet Orthrus. It would be very cute.) Near also delegates responsibilities to people such as Gevanni and Rester, so it would make sense for him to be a minion-summoner.

Mikami would be a Death wizard, because his gameplay style would focus on being a supportive role for others at the cost of himself. Could you imagine him using Feint four times (maybe eight, if he makes use of Treasure Cards) just so Light’s Fire Dragon spell can be boosted as much as possible? He would also have spells such as Dark Pact, Sacrifice, and Bad Juju, which would deplete his health significantly if he never cast his own attacks to restore some hit points.

I also think that Mikami wouldn’t optimize his deck completely, because he would enjoy the thrill of deleting half of his hand every round—and even though other players (like Light) would get mad at him for it, Mikami would genuinely enjoy having to rely on the luck of the draw to determine his next move. (It’s worth noting that Mikami probably wouldn’t pack any Spiritual Traps or Blades for himself but would focus on having Elemental Traps and Blades that other, more powerful players can use.)

If Mikami is Death and Near is Myth, then imagine the sheer rage Light would feel when Mikami’s gearing up for his big attack (like at the Yellow Box Warehouse) only for Near to use Myth Imp the preceding turn and place a Death dispel on him. (Bonus points if Light anticipated this and had Mikami prepare a Cleanse, only to realize that Near placed an Indemnity on the dispel, so Mikami’s big attack still fizzles.)

Misa would be a Life wizard, because it is seen as one of the more feminine schools (based on its weak attacks and emphasis on healing). It would be fun if she always dyed her clothes black, so people assumed she was a Death wizard, while she actually played for one of the most vibrant and colorful schools. I could see her attaching herself to a group of stronger players and establishing herself as the resident healer—though she would be surprisingly good at wreaking havoc on and attacking her enemies in a pinch.

Rem would be a Balance wizard, not just because of the whole dissolving-into-sand pun, but because she would be great in a support role, and I associate Life and Balance together (because I main a Life wizard whose secondary school is Balance). If Misa focuses on healing others at the cost of herself, then Rem could use Helping Hands to reciprocate and keep Misa from over-exhausting herself.

I also like the idea of Rem using the spell Judgment, and I could see her being a generally self-sufficient solo player who decides to help out those who are less competent at the game (much to the chagrin of more impatient players such as Light who don’t have the patience to explain puzzle rooms and cheat codes to newbies).

Those are the seven playable schools, but I DID think about a few other characters...

Matsuda would play as a Myth wizard, for similar reasons as Near: being underestimated and unpredictably efficient at his job, as well as working best in team settings. Also, Matsuda having to put up with Cyrus Drake as his teacher would be a parallel to how exasperated the other Death Note characters get with him in canon.

Aizawa would be a Balance wizard, because he supposedly mediates well between the police and L during post-series investigations. I also think this fits with his image as a family man, and if he were playing Wizard101, it would totally be to help his daughter out with tough boss battles. (He would probably also trust her to log onto his account when he’s at work and have an extra player in battle to make her quests go by more quickly.)

Ryuk would be a Death wizard, mostly for the macabre aesthetic, although I can’t help but think that the perfect role for him in this game wouldn’t be another playable character but an NPC who follows a questing player around and lends them stat boosts—only I think that Ryuk would behave much like Captain Pork and provide a relatively insignificant benefit, like 3% accuracy. (Bonus points if he provides +10% Death damage, which is completely useless to Light and only makes Mikami’s strategy of damaging himself to boost Light even more unsustainable.)

#death note #w101 #bunny babbles #i'm not gonna tag this for all of the characters because i think the intersection of death note and w101 fans is very slim #but for maybe the two people out there who are vibing with this: hello <3 join me in my brain rot

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inventors-fair · 2 years

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A Semblance of Direction: How do we create that surprise?

When discussing with the other judges this week, I was hard-pressed for a good example, as were we all. This is slightly more difficult than I anticipated, even though the concept feels like it can be simplified: have something in the art direction that’s not on the card. But to make it funny, surprising, a twist, recontextualized, etc., that barrier can feel difficult to scale.

So, here’s my art direction for a card example that I came up with. I’d like you to read it, then guess what the actual card is before clicking the readmore. Following that are some ideas that can hopefully guide you even more.

Art direction: Far in the misty hills, a statue of a monk in a horse stance has been overgrown by the forests, and we're seeing a moment of the clouds parting to let the diffused sunlight shine on this ancient, massive relic. In the foreground, a young child mimics the pose, with all the adolescent confidence she can muster. Following her is a djinn monk, scrolls laden across their back, looking up at the statue forlornly.

Mood: History, from two perspectives—mourning and hope.

Got it? Alright, here’s the card:

Maybe what you expected, maybe not. But my process was pretty muddled even though I was happy with the result. The card came to my head first, and then afterwards, I thought about how to evoke the mood—or rather, how the different moods could be evoked.

Let’s rewind. Remember Unbounded Potential? I talked about that card specifically because it could have had two different moods. On the one hand, this hopeful side of things could be portrayed, but on the other, it could have been a Phyrexian card. We’ve been over that—and that’s how I made this example. The obvious possibility could have been a whirlwind of magic surrounding an Ojutai monk as they’re digging through scrolls and learning powerful spells. Taking that obvious mood, I chose to go a different route. Emotionally, the past icons and the future potential mastery are conflated, depicting possibility rather than action.

Does everything have to be that complicated? No, heck no. One small detail can make it all the better. And you don’t have to play to those expectations, either. If you’re an established MTG player, and you saw the card Harmless Offering without seeing the art, you could guess that the card’s art was actually depicting, perhaps, a cursed doll being given to a collector, or a goblin falling for a poorly-made booby trap designed to look like a sultry goblin bar wench. And that mindset is ultimately detrimental—because tropes are your friend. Understanding tropes can help you subvert them.

Perhaps, try this: Design your card normally, and think about what a player might expect from the art. Then ask: what other angle could there be? What would be an image that fits this card that runs against expectation? What action is being depicted, and what action COULD be depicted?

I actually want to talk about Innistrad’s Ancient Grudge for the umpteenth time. Imagine that the flavor text had ended with: “If there’s anything a werewolf hates, it’s a collar.” But, the wolf isn’t wearing a collar—they’re destroying Avacyn’s symbol. That card could have depicted the literal collar being torn off, but the choice was to turn the symbol into perhaps a metaphorical collar. Could there be metaphors or images that you can turn into art? Take your card as it stands. What’s the non-literal meaning of your text? And how does that change the mood?

If there was one piece of advice I could give, it would be: take what would be obvious, and make it more abstract. Maybe it’s funny! Maybe it’s darker. Maybe it’s metaphorical. Maybe you can depict something abstract, like World-Weary. After all, your goal is to create a feeling. Bring something beautiful, shocking, hilarious, strange.

So, why is this important?

My ultimate goal is to challenge you to think outside the box. Consider that the worlds of Magic are complex and strange, just like the real world. Adding non-linear, abstract, or twisted imagery creates both complexity and depth. These dimensions are what make sets come alive. Players who have that deep connection can more fully integrate themselves into your universe, whatever that may be.

Thank you for reading. We’re glad to have you in this universe. - @abelzumi

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #example post #tuesday blog #inventor's fair

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emmabee14 · 1 year

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Dystopia To Walk Away From and Utopia To Walk Towards

Utopia is an idea to keep striving towards, Utopia is the fight for a better world. To deconstruct ideas about the ways we live, to consider how we can improve to make this society a place where everyone can thrive. Where we can thrive. Needs met, not at the expense of others. Neither hyper-individualism nor carelessness for one but An ever-progressing stride towards Care for all.

I don’t dream of cyber-punk bars, of a silver planet, or a home on Mars. I don’t dream of a castle in the sky, I dream of my hands in the dirt and that glint in your eyes. I don’t dream of a sea full of ships, But I do in some ways and that’s the Problem with it. With what? With what we’ve got here, with the path we’re on track for The rules we adhere To the nonsense and some sense and a little of both. It’s so confusing, so much, So overwhelming for most.

And I fall into the sugary traps, The little white lies and the salty sweet snacks. The lies that, to be more myself I must Buy it, Buy me, Throw me in a landfill Once I’m done being it. And when I want another me I’ll order it, delivered to my house.

I’m usually a sugar-coater Hidden metaphor kind of poet not Outright saying anything but hoping that you’ll get it. And maybe that’s all that makes a poet, someone with some rhythm That moves ideas, streamlined from the ocean Into an order that feels sort of divine, Where maybe something someone somewhere saw will come into your mind.

Because right now, we are Dividing the people, Multiplying the fear. Me. I. Am. Different, separate, special, Shutting away into solitary instead of solidarity. Always needing more, Never, ever enough.

And I think I Take issue with that, Take issue maybe with distraction. Immense, mass distraction. Hyper-individualized distraction, Consumer-friendly distraction, Add to cart, confirm credit card distraction. “Buy you to be you” taken to dystopian extremes. Absolutely, we create our own avatar but That’s not the point of the game.

And maybe somewhere along the line something changes, Maybe people see each other more, Maybe people see we’re not so different And want equity for all, in order to reflect that. Maybe people see where their food and plastic and plastic food comes from And want better, demand better, for everyone. Maybe it all crumbles. Maybe there is no choice but change. Maybe it happens very slowly, Maybe suddenly it rains And pours and next thing we know-

Up and out and onto the next. Slower now, more mindful Faster now, more opportunist.

The need for techno-escapism dissolves as technology becomes tools for the world, not the world itself. As this web of humanity becomes a more welcoming, helpful, human place. As Earth becomes greener, not grayer, A better field for every player. As self detaches from material, As hands meet hands meet Earth.

A sprout of this into a bloom of that. Growth over greed, Love over fear, Connection over consumption, And One over one. Roots over leaves, but Tenderness for the whole tree.

#poetry #poem #wrote this for a class about utopian literature #its a bit rough and I'll probably work it more but yeah #utopia #dystopia #work in progress

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saltymongoose · 2 years

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I like the thought of every character in your self-aware AU arguing with each other over who the player's favorite is like "They spend more time with me!", "They laugh at all my jokes!", "I'm literally the strongest." And then the grunt character the player made in Arena Mode just T-poses like "Silence parasites, THEY MADE ME."

Bruh, how do you recover from that. 🥲

All jokes aside, I'm excited to see how you'll incorporate Arena Mode into this already very amusing AU.

This is really funny, and it's totally something that would happen lmao. After dealing with the whiplash of their comrade's sudden open adoration for you, it would become very annoying to deal with. Always arguing about who you seem to like being around more based on what you said, or how many orders you give them. That and the constant attempts to get your attention and keep it on them, whether it be by throwing themselves in harm's way to get you to notice (or save) them, or utilizing their own skills more to impress you. Eventually your character is going to have to put their foot down and make it clear that they must be your favorite. You literally designed them from scratch, of course you'd like them more than the others, it just made sense. They probably say it just to put an end to the stupid arguments they had to hear, and it would work. Because how could they respond to that?

Unfortunately, much to your character's disdain, this would just make their behavior worse because then they'd think they have to prove themselves to you. It's not like they would risk going against your character directly; that might make you hate them, which was unacceptable. Although, your character would always be quick to remind them of who you continued to favor. (Maybe not the best choice, given how it feeds their jealousy even more.)

On this topic, can you imagine just how annoying it would be for Subject 1v02P_6 once Phobos caught wind of you? If he figured out that they had a more intimate connection with his Player, I doubt he'd leave them alone. Ordering that they spend as much time around him as possible as he asks (interrogates) them about you, even studying the grunt's mannerisms to see what you'd possibly find so desirable about them. He doesn't care how uncomfortable or angry it makes the Subject, he's their superior in almost every single way. If anything, they should feel lucky he considers them too valuable to punish them for stealing you from him. (Although it does put 1v02P_6 in a weird position where they could actually criticize insult the Director to his face. Even if he doesn't really care about what they say, they aren't subject to the cruel punishments others would receive for doing so. The fact that they were the only one who acted as your vessel made them immune from any harm. At least they had that.)

In short, your characters deserve a break. From everyone.

#tw: yandere #they're both tired of dealing with everyone's bs #at least they can brag about having you though #really they only have to mention you to own the others in an argument #the player = metaphorical trap card #Subject 1v02P_6 @ phobos: that's why your momma dead #ask #fav #i ❤️ anons

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uomo-accattivante · 3 years

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Great article about Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter - a poker movie that’s not really a poker movie...

Some filmmakers write a hit movie and spend the ensuing years trying to escape its shadow. Paul Schrader never flinched. Forty-five years after his “Taxi Driver” script put him on the map, the writer-director has developed a body of work loaded with alienated anti-heroes compelled to violent and reckless extremes for the sake of a higher calling.

That includes “The Card Counter,” in which Oscar Isaac plays guilt-stricken Abu Ghraib vet William Tell, a man with a gambling addiction compelled to help the revenge-seeking son (Tye Sheridan) of a former colleague. Taking justice into his own hands, Isaac’s William Tell slithers through the Vegas strip in search of questionable salvation, not unlike a certain Vietnam vet named Travis Bickle did from the driver’s seat. As if to cement the comparisons, “The Card Counter” features Martin Scorsese as an executive producer, marking the first time the two men share a credit since 1999’s “Bringing Out the Dead.”

For Schrader, “Taxi Driver” comparisons are inevitable in all his work. “My tendency is to look for interesting occupational metaphors,” Schrader said in a recent interview. “‘Taxi Driver’ hit the bull’s eye of the zeitgeist and it doesn’t die. There’s no way I could’ve planned for that, but it does inform the stories I tell.”

At 75, Schrader continues to churn out movies much like his compatriot Scorsese, albeit on a much smaller scale. “The Card Counter” is the latest illustration of the secularized Christian dogma percolating through his work. “Our society doesn’t like to take responsibility for anything,” he said. “But I come from a culture where you’re responsible for everything. You come into the world soaked with guilt and you just get guiltier.” In his own prickly fashion, Schrader makes movies steeped in empathy for lost souls in search of redemption despite the daunting odds. “We’re all certainly capable of forgiveness,” he said, and chuckled. “Anyone who says otherwise is wrong.”

The “Taxi Driver” dilemma looms large in nearly all of Schrader’s work, from the dazzling high-stakes activism of “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” all the way through Ethan Hawke’s eco-conscious priest in “First Reformed.” While the latter, Oscar-nominated effort brought Schrader new fans, “The Card Counter” is an even more precise distillation of his aesthetic — a moody, philosophical drama about the vanity of the personal crusade.

Schrader, who has labeled his homegrown character studies as “man in the room” dramas, embraces the parallels as usual. “There is this kind of myth that the taxi driver was this friendly, joking kind of guy who was a character actor in movies,” he said. “But the reality is that it’s a very lonely job, and you’re trapped in a box for 60 hours a week.” He saw the same logic with gambling, a wayward profession generally depicted in the movies in the context of escapist romps, rather than the somber rituals that afflict most players. “I thought about the essence of playing cards every day, or sitting in front of a slot machine. It’s kind of zombie-like,” Schrader said. “You see commercials of people in casinos laughing. But it’s a pretty glum place. Today with slots you don’t even have to pull the lever. You just sit there and let the numbers roll.”

The gambling figure led Schrader to the bigger picture of his character’s conundrum. “I was wondering why someone would choose to live in that sort of purgatory,” he said. “He doesn’t want to be alive, but he can’t really be dead, either. What could cause that? It can’t be a simple crime, murder, or a family dispute. It has to be something unforgivable. And that was Abu Ghraib.”

After the fallout of that debacle, William did time in a military prison, and reenters society before the movie begins. That was a world the filmmaker wanted to understand in clearer terms. Though Schrader has received blowback for his controversial Facebook posts in the past, in this case, the platform was an asset: He used it to track down soldiers who had done time in the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, the only military prison in the U.S., to better understand the initial claustrophobic world that Tell endures, as well as the conflict between the justice he’s received and what he deserves. “This man has been punished by his government, set free, and paid his due, but he doesn’t feel that,” Schrader said. “What does he do then? How does he fill his time? That’s how it all began.”

Schrader himself toyed with gambling when he lived in Los Angeles early in his career, but soon gave it up. “I very quickly realized I was only interested in gambling if it was really dangerous and I didn’t want to expose myself to that kind of danger,” he said. Years later, though, the experience helped inform his story. “There is this whole fantasy of gambling movies from ‘The Cincinnati Kid’ to ‘California Split,’” Schrader said. “But poker is all about waiting. People will play 10 to 12 hours a day and two to three times a day, a hand will happen where two players both have chips. Now you’ve got a face-off. But that doesn’t happen very often. Most guys who are there are running the numbers, the probability.”

He envisioned “The Card Counter” as a repudiation of the traditional poker movie, which builds to the giddy release of a final tournament. When that moment arrives in the movie, Schrader takes the movie in a bleak, shocking new direction. “It’s not really a poker movie — that’s a red herring,” he said.

William is immersed in his casino journey when he encounters Cirk (Sheridan), the crazy-eyed son of another Abu Ghraib soldier who committed suicide. Cirk blames the soldiers’ former commander (Willem Dafoe), and hopes to loop William into the plan. Instead, the older man decides to take Cirk under his wing to talk him out of the act, which doesn’t prove so easy. In the process, the gambler forms a curious bond with La Linda (Tiffany Haddish), a gambling agent and pimp whose icy, relentless drive to make the most out of the poker circuit brings William some measure of companionship on his wayward journey.

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It should come as no surprise that the “Girls Trip” breakout is nearly unrecognizable in the role of the calculated La Linda, which is also a distinctly Schraderish touch: From his work with Richard Pryor in 1978’s “Blue Collar” all the way through Cedric the Entertainer’s supporting turn in “First Reformed,” Schrader has made a habit of seeking out comedic actors willing to play against type. That’s partly opportunistic on his part. “They’re eager to do it because they want to expand their palette, so you can get them for a price,” Schrader said, chuckling again. “That’s necessary, given the kind of films I make.” But that’s not all: “They will always find a way to be interesting, even when they’re not getting a laugh.”

Which is not to say that the process comes easily to them. Haddish recently told the New York Times that Schrader had to coach her out of speaking in a comedic sing-song. The filmmaker put it in blunter terms. “On the first reading of the script we had, frankly, she wasn’t very good,” he said. “I told her to go back and read every single line without emotion. Then I said, ‘You’re not going to do that in front of the camera, but you can’t hit every line either. So let’s pick five or six lines you can hit where you get a smile or reaction.’ Quickly she got that it was a different rhythm.”

As for Isaac, whose disquieting turn suggests a maniac lingering just beneath the surface, Schrader once again turned to metaphor. “I told him to imagine himself on a rocky coast in the ocean,” Schrader said. “Waves are going to come up and get you all day every day. They’re going to try to batter you. Let them. The waves will go away. You’ll still be there. Don’t compete. In the end, the rocks will win. You have to learn to trust that the way these things are put together has more power than the individual movement.”

William’s routine includes an odd ritual in which he covers all the furniture in his various Vegas hotel rooms with white paper. While the motivation is never explained, Schrader said it stemmed from an experience with production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti on the set of 1982’s “Cat People,” when Schrader realized the man was doing the same thing. “He said, quite simply, ‘I have to live here surrounded by these ugly hotel furnishings,’” Schrader recalled. The concept inspired the new movie’s most compelling visual motif. “Casinos are very ugly places. There are no exceptions,” Schrader said. “Often you aspire to finding pockets of beauty and there weren’t really any here except the only place he could control, which was his hotel rooms, where he could privatize his visions. I came up with this ritual for him to control those visuals.”

At a certain point, Schrader himself couldn’t control the visuals of “The Card Counter” for more prosaic reasons: After an extra tested positive for COVID-19, the production shut down last March, with five days of shooting left, and couldn’t resume until July. Though Schrader initially took to Facebook to fume at his producers, the pause eventually opened up an opportunity to tweak his vision. “I edited the film and put in placeholders for the five or six scenes of consequence that I hadn’t shot,” he said. “I didn’t have a fully finished film but I could screen it for people. Normally you only get that privilege if you have a big-budget film and you’re allowed reshoots.” The early audience included Scorsese, who provided a crucial note. “I asked Marty, ‘What am I missing?’ He said to me that the relationship with Tiffany and Oscar was too thin. So I rewrote those scenes.”

Schrader asked Scorsese to take on the executive producer credit as a favor. “I said, ‘Marty, wouldn’t it be nice to share a card again? I thought it would help sell the film but it would also be a cool thing to do after all these years,’” Schrader said. “Then a couple of weeks later his agent called wanting to work out a deal. What deal? I asked Marty and he said yes. That’s the deal!” Now, the pair are trying to collaborate on a new long-form TV series based on the Bible, though the timing has been delayed by production on Scorsese’s upcoming “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

In the meantime, Schrader has been mulling over the way “Taxi Driver” not only continues to inform his storytelling but the world at large. “Hardly a week goes by that I don’t notice or hear some reference to it,” he said. “But I don’t know how you’d tell such a story today. A number of writers have tried and I don’t think they’ve succeeded because it has to come out of a certain place and time. We have plenty of these incels around, but they’re not as original or revealing as they were 45 years ago when that character came on the scene. I wouldn’t know how to write about it.”

Instead, his next project is a love triangle called “Master Gardener,” which he hopes to shoot in Louisiana before the end of the year. He has several other potential scripts ready to go after that. And while he has expressed trepidation about the future of cinema in the past, he’s not convinced that audiences have given up on it yet. He recalled a conversation he had with Cedric the Entertainer when “First Reformed” made the rounds. “He said off-handedly to me, ‘You know, I didn’t realize there were so many people who liked serious movies,’” Schrader said, and chuckled once more. “Well, yeah, there are.”

“The Card Counter” premieres next week at the Venice Film Festival. Focus Features releases on September 10, 2021.

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#oscar isaac #the card counter #paul schrader #martin scorsese #tiffany haddish #tye sheridan #willem dafoe #taxi driver #master gardener #indiewire

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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 4 years

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Thoughts on Chuuya’s Character Song

I was going to do Atsushi’s next, but I figured I may as well do soukoku together. Also, this is really fucking hard with a hilariously limited understanding of Japanese and trying to cross reference poem translations with song lyrics, my god. Complaining now out of the way, this song is half as depressing as Dazai’s and twice as sexy, so buckle up, y’all. It’s a long one :p

No matter what kind of cliched game it is, I'll play until the end But I won't be satisfied with a scenario by a third-rate writer

Ah, an opening line that fits Chuuya to a tee. So, I figure he’s opening with the acknowledgement that many of the people he knows likes to treat him like a chess piece--namely, his boss and Dazai. He knows he’s just a player in the schemes of others, but he doesn’t particularly care about the fact that he’s being jerked around as long as it’s for some greater purpose. His tone seems to indicate that he resents this, at least a little, but his fiery dismissal says that it doesn’t matter to him in the end.

GOOD BYE, tainted clothes are no longer to be worn I simply wanted a way to kill time

Alright, multiple ways to interpret this bit. Goodbye in english, and a reference to the poem his ability is named after with “tainted”. The argument could be made he’s referring to Dazai, considering the title and references made in Dazai’s character song.

I’d actually argue he’s talking about the Sheep. It feels like he’s casting off his past with that organization, dismissing them with the words that they weren’t really important to him--just a way to kill time, even though we know that their betrayal cut him deeply. And it’s why he’s saying goodbye, and dismissing them as a part of his past. It’s an interesting parallel to the way Dazai talks about Chuuya himself in his own song, because the both of them have pasts that they’re trying to run from.

'In languor dreams of death' ... who was the one that said it?

That would be you, Chuuya. At least IRL Chuuya, in his very fancy poem “For the Tainted Sorrow”. But why this line?

I’ve puzzled it over for a while, but I don’t have a conclusion. Interesting that he opens with talking about death, though, considering how he brushes up against it almost every day by nature of his job.

The world is a bird cage, faded in colour Even if I lament, I can't get out of this prison

This part is also oddly reminiscent of Dazai’s song. Chuuya’s saying that he feels trapped, like a bird in a cage that no longer interests him at all, and that he can’t escape no matter how much he laments. Which is an interesting translation choice, considering his Sheep Song poem can also be translated as “Lament of the Lamb” (though the words themselves in Japanese differ, so I can’t call this an actual reference).

BUT NOW, DARKNESS MY SORROW I have not yet fallen apart So, as I laugh off this imposed inconvenience Let's overturn even the heavens and the earth (GRAVITY) Within the darkness, a shadow of a hat lightly dances

But Chuuya doesn’t care. So what if he’s trapped? So what if escape is impossible? He’s still alive, he’s still holding it together. So he brushes it off as something that doesn’t really impact him much. This song seems very much like a massive middle finger to the shitty cards he’s been dealt. Chuuya’s saying that despite it all, he’s still going to turn the world upside down.

Part of me thinks the reference to the hat is a Rimbaud reference, since he got the hat from Rimbaud and it originally belonged to Verlaine. I feel like this is Chuuya acknowledging how those two people have influenced him, which...we don’t know about yet, as his backstory is still mostly unexplored.

Even if I get tired of the night and tear off my shackles That eye who sees eye to eye with Kierkegaard is also here

This is Chuuya saying that if he gets tired of the Port Mafia (remember, the night is the PM’s domain) there’s still someone who will make sure he can’t leave. After some googling, I’ve realized Kierkegaard is a Danish poet. But who is Chuuya referencing, who sees eye to eye with Kierkegaard? I’m pretty sure it’s Mori, but the JSTOR article I made an account for is 45 pages long and I’m working my way through it slowly. I’ll get back to y’all on this bit, but for now, I’m 90% sure this is Mori.

WOW OH [The best view worth more than a ten-billion masterpiece...] Let's stop messing around already

Ah, Chuuya, always ready for a fight. And this is definitely a reference to Dazai. This is what he says when he sees Dazai for the first time in four years, coming down the stairs to see his old enemy/friend/partner chained to the wall. If you need a memory refresh, it’s the scene where Dazai says “✨CHUUYA!✨”

Why, of all people... is the KEY CASE in that person's hand? In the moment we clashed, the one in control is me I will manipulate even the weight of this cut-short life

Who is “that person”? I’d hazard a guess that it’s Dazai, considering the previous line. The first line is him lamenting that Dazai seems to always have the answers, always to hold the key. But the next part is Chuuya reasserting his control. It’s Chuuya, fiercely defiant to the end, flipping another middle finger to the guy who keeps coming into his life to turn it upside down. Even his own mortality doesn’t faze him in the least. To Chuuya, it’s another obstacle to overcome.

LONELY DARKNESS MY SORROW, once it is opened by the key I'd rather just fall than go back to being alone Staring at the destroyed cage of this self, (GRAVITY) Slowly, I sing, "Not bad at all."

Chuuya, I love you, but why so many goddamn metaphors? Let’s break this down.

Firstly, there’s a swap from “darkness my sorrow” to “lonely darkness my sorrow”. Ignoring the key part for now, we can look at the second line where he says he’d rather fall then be alone again. I think this is a part of his trauma from how he was alone, with Arahabaki/as Arahabaki, for so many years. Chuuya very deliberately surrounds himself with people--first the Sheep, then the PM. He hates to be alone. And it’s an interesting counterpoint to Dazai, who always feels alone regardless of who he’s with by sheer virtue of how isolated his brain makes him feel.

Secondly, the cage metaphor. So the cage from earlier also seems to double as a metaphor for Chuuya himself, which makes sense. He’s technically a vessel for Arahabaki, and so inner conflict has been a part of his identity from the beginning. So once someone (possibly Dazai, possibly Mori, possibly even Rimbaud if you want to focus on how Rimbaud freed Arahabaki) frees him, it’s like he destroys the things that are holding him back. And he’s fine with that.

I’ll address the themes of destruction and the repeated screaming of “GRAVITYYYYY” at the end.

Even though it feels like I might be trapped, there is no room for sentiments I'll push myself to the limit and dye everything jet-black

Again, this is Chuuya brushing away his limitations. He’s still going to fight in spite of it all. He’s very goal oriented, liking to take action more than sitting back and thinking about it.

The world is a bird cage, faded in colour Even if I lament, I can't get out of this prison BUT NOW, DARKNESS MY SORROW I have not yet fallen apart So, as I laugh off this imposed inconvenience Let's overturn even the heavens and the earth (GRAVITY) Within the darkness, a shadow of a hat lightly dances.

And then this bit is just a repeated part, nothing new here. So, a few concluding things.

Firstly, Chuuya and Dazai sing about each other very differently. Chuuya seems to be almost nostalgic about Dazai. But Dazai rejects him entirely in his own song, and it’s an interesting counterpoint.

Secondly, the repeated themes of destruction and fighting. It’s honestly all Chuuya’s ever known, and the thing he’s best at. At this point, it’s a part of his identity, so it makes sense that it’s in his song.

Third, and this part interests me the most. Chuuya’s ability is gravity manipulation, right? And gravity is an attractive force that draws objects to things with the greatest mass. I just feel it’s kind of fitting, that Chuuya--terribly scared of being alone--has a power that brings people towards him.

Just a thought.

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sunshinereversed · 4 years

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𝙙𝙮𝙡𝙖𝙣’𝙨 “𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙡”: 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙮𝙨𝙞𝙨

I think it’s eerily prophetic how the song “Flowers on the Wall” (performed by the Statler Brothers) radiates so strongly with Dylan Klebold. The country tune has already been associated with Dylan because it appears in the background of the video where he and Nate are driving to school. But if you really listen to the lyrics and reflect on Dylan’s inner struggles, they coincide strangely well.

Let’s take the very first line of the song.

I keep hearin' you're concerned about my happiness.

The constant ‘Are you okay? Are you sure you’re okay? You seem so down lately’ from his parents, especially Sue, is reflected here. His mother sees that Dylan is ‘moody and irritable,’ often withdrawn, spending time hauled up in his room. She notices the tightness of his voice, which is unlike him, and she offers to make him French toast or an omelet. This must be about something small, she thinks. Yet his sullen demeanor stays as days turn to weeks, and she must ask again in vain, ‘Are you okay?’

But all that thought you're givin' me is conscience, I guess.

It doesn’t even cross Sue’s mind that her son may be unwell. She is simply asking out of concern for him looking unhappy, believing whatever it is will solve itself out. His mother wears her heart on her sleeve, and it pains her to see him so sad. But what can she do if he refuses to talk about it? All she can do is ask and wait for it to pass. He’s a good kid, after all. He’ll do the right thing because she’s worked hard to instill her morals into what he does.

If I were walkin' in your shoes, I wouldn't worry none.

Dylan reassures her repeatedly. ‘I’m only tired. I have a lot of homework. Nothing’s wrong. No one gives me a tough time, I’m 6’4”.’ He wishes she would leave him alone. He thinks she wouldn’t understand; she wouldn’t listen. He tells his parents not to worry. ‘You can trust me,’ he tells his mother one evening after the prom. Dylan goes out of his way to prove that he is the golden child. It works, and they worry none.

While you 'n' your friends are worried about me I'm havin' lots of fun.

Dylan’s social life serves as a mask for what is going on in his mind. He goes over to his friends’ houses, bowls on Friday nights, makes videos after school, plays catch with his dad, and even watches old movies with his mother. He has pictures of good times with friends. Outwardly, he is smiling; life is a dream. This makes his parents rethink their concerns. He’s a happy kid who does normal teenage things. What is there to worry about? He’s assuring those around him that he’s fine.

Now here comes the chorus, which is a bit tricky but makes sense when you consider these things:

Countin' flowers on the wall.

If anyone is familiar with the book The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, this might be a clue. Like the protagonist in the book, Dylan is trapped in his four-walled cell (his bedroom) which is where he does most of his thinking and spiraling downwards. This is where he writes in his journal and vents his frustrations. It’s a toxic environment for his brain. His room is where he cries himself to sleep; hugs his pillow in loneliness; gets drunk by himself. Most importantly, it’s where he blurs fantasy and reality. While not as plainly mad as the poor woman from Gilman’s novel, Dylan is mentally tortured by what he perceives to be ‘an unfair/miserable existence’ and being ‘stuck in humanity.’ He rejects both, and often retreats into his fantasy where he is with his love and away from the world. The ‘flowers on the wall’ symbolizes his own deception of life when he is alone, and might not only symbolize his bedroom, but also his brain.

That don't bother me at all.

Unlike the real world, Dylan very much prefers to live in the fictional one he’s conjured within his mind. It’s his safe place. Paradoxically, his mind is also where he tears himself down and others around him. It’s a poisonous escape. Yet he is already so far gone in that escape, he can’t see the damage he is doing to himself. And he continues to do so, unbothered, and unaware.

Playin' solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one.

‘Playing solitaire’ could be a metaphor symbolizing his isolation and loneliness, his solitude. Solitaire is a single-player game, and Dylan feels alienated most of the time, especially when he is sulking in his room. Thinking, always thinking. Sometimes, as the line implies, until dawn. He is a night owl who cannot sleep because his mind is constantly awake. Playing music, conversing in chats on the computer, formulating poems in his notebooks, doodling, or just thinking (negatively). He oversleeps often because he is up late doing these things. He is alone, in the middle of the night, consumed by his own sadness. Something is missing inside him, and that is why he plays with ‘a deck of fifty-one.’ He thinks a significant other is the thing that is missing, and if he finds her, he will finally be playing with fifty-two cards, figuratively.

Smokin' cigarettes and watchin' Captain Kangaroo.

For Dylan, this is a dichotomy. An everlasting contrast. The balance between two things, lightness, and darkness, good and evil, etc. He’s doing grown-up things like holding a job, applying to colleges, driving a car, and as the lyrics say, smoking cigarettes. Marlboro, preferably. At the same time, Dylan is caught between acting his age and longing for simpler days. This is where ‘watching Captain Kangaroo’ comes in. It’s a kid’s show and is intended for such an audience. Dylan thinks back with nostalgia for his childhood, when life wasn’t full of disappointments, stress, high school bullies, responsibility. He hangs onto items that remind him of his youth: his stuffed koala, origami, classic movies, his trademark baseball cap, his love for fixing old cars with his dad. Dylan is stuck somewhere in the middle of the two, never truly satisfied with one over the other.

Now don't tell me I've nothin' to do.

Again, Dylan tells those around him that he is perfectly fine by engaging in normal teenage things. He hides how depressed he feels. Dylan becomes increasingly irritated the more people ask if he’s okay. The repetition of this line throughout the song is more like a cry for help than a reassurance.

Last night I dressed in tails, pretended I was on the town.

This could symbolize several things, but what comes to my mind is Dylan’s prom night. The fact that he even goes to prom is a pleasant surprise to his parents, confirming that there’s nothing abnormal lurking on the horizon. His father helps him get dressed in his tuxedo, struggles to figure out how the bow tie works, and he pulls his newly washed hair back into a neat ponytail. His mother thinks he looks quite handsome, comparing him to a character in a movie they are both fond of. For a moment, he is just a normal high school kid going to a dance. Nothing out of the boring ordinary.

As long as I can dream it's hard to slow this swinger down.

For one night, at the prom, Dylan pretends this is his life. He is good at blocking out what he considers evil, and Dylan allows himself to enjoy the moment. He’s had a lot of practice at ignoring his pain. If he can retreat into the fantasy he’s created in his mind, he is capable of anything, good or bad. It’s like an out-of-body experience. He’s not there when he’s there. Nothing can stop him. He has two settings at this point, 0 and 100. An unhealthy dreamer can be deadly not only to others, but to the dreamer himself.

So please don't give a thought to me, I'm really doin' fine.

As mentioned previously, Dylan flies under the radar to not be asked about his well-being. He holds out his arms to point to all these social activities he’s engaging in with his friends as if to say ‘Look what I’m doing. I’m fine. Do not worry.’ It’s a cruel deception, and he doesn’t even realize he is being deceived as much as those around him are. Dylan starts to believe what he’s telling others. He doesn’t think he is worth the worry.

You can always find me here; I'm havin' quite a time.

‘Here’ can mean one of several places: his bedroom, his mind, or perhaps his existence. Either way, ‘I’m having quite a time’ is a sarcastic remark. He’s drowning in his harmful thoughts, yet that’s where he feels the safest. It’s his protective shell that he puts up against the world. Dylan entertains the idea over and over in his mind that his love is waiting for him in another existence. No matter where he physically is, he’s ‘always there’, lost in his thoughts.

The chorus repeats. Dylan outwardly seems okay. Left to his own devices, he is not.

It's good to see you, I must go, I know I look a fright.

This is a goodbye. Even though it is a casual farewell, it has deeply painful undertones. He says he didn’t like life too much but hopes he will find peace in the next one. He offers a final goodbye to those he loved, family and friends. ‘It’s good to see you’ displays how detached he feels toward the end. These are no longer people he knows fondly; it was simply good to see them. The thoughts must end, and he must leave before they worsen. Like the lyrics suggest, he doesn’t want to stick around and knows he must go. A big part of his self-esteem had to do with his self-image. The line ‘I know I look a fright’ symbolizes how negatively he thought of his own appearance. Dylan couldn’t see his own attractiveness. He felt awkward due to his height, long facial features, shaggy hair, and the way he dressed.

Anyway, my eyes are not accustomed to this light.

This is the trademark dark sunglasses that Dylan wears almost everywhere. He hides behind them, shielding his tears from the world. The light comes from the sun, and he cannot withstand the same light that others can, a nod to him feeling isolated from humanity. Though he is called the ‘sunshine boy,’ his eyes are not meant for its light. So, he dawns the shades to (metaphorically) keep it out.

And my shoes are not accustomed to this hard concrete.

Unlike the sneakers worn by the jocks at his high school, Dylan sports black combat boots. They are unusual among the other students, but Dylan feels comfortable in them. Again, he separates himself from the rest of humanity. He is not meant for it. He knows he must go somewhere he feels free.

So I must go back to my room and make my day complete.

By the end of the song, it becomes clear that Dylan now lives inside the world he’s created in his mind. It almost becomes odd for him not to retreat there at least once a day if not all the time. But like the final lyrics, he goes to stay there forever and never to return.

The final repetition of the chorus only emphasizes the truth. He was not ‘doing fine’, despite all the work of convincing others the opposite.

The last line loops again before the song ends. The upbeat and happy tune only makes the message more haunting.

Don't tell me I've nothin' to do.

And no one did.

#analysis #flowers on the wall #dylan klebold #american tragedy

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beastenraged · 3 years

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So I had a thought. Since the KH universe (and your and kitsoa's interpretations of it especially) has some pretty meta stuff going on, I wonder if it would be possible for an advanced spellcaster to cast spells in an "abstract" or "metaphorical" sort of way? Going to use FF spells as an example, but Protect is a spell that raises defense, but could it also provide "protection" in a meta sort of sense? Or Blind being used to obscure knowledge instead of vision. Stuff like that.

Oh yeah, that's totally a possibility. Cool idea! It's a...Literal turned Metaphor kind of deal there. Very poetic, I'm gonna expand a bit here.

Most of Kingdom Hearts focuses on the Metaphor turned Literal, such as traveling to people's Hearts and them being actual glass platforms you wander on and the actual Key that you carry around that unlocks worlds.

Literal turned Metaphor I would say is something that is harder to place in the series but I think we've seen an example of it before.

Namely, in Luxord.

The guy's powers are Time. We've got actual Time magic in the games, in the forms of Stop and Slow and so on. So why doesn't he use it?

The Doylist answer is that it would suck in a boss fight. Could you imagine fighting a guy who keeps casting Stop on you and beats you up while you can't move? The worst.

Actual Time Magic Bosses is something that can exist in turn based RPGs with an entire team supporting each other that you personally control, not an action RPG with some at times crapshoot AIs. Thus, the change in Luxord to a time limit and the dude just using cards.

But if we go Literal turned Metaphor, like Blind hiding knowledge instead of sight and such... Well.

A game is meant to spend time. You want some fun, some time to waste, you play a game. Luxord's moveset (heh) is all about delaying the player from finding him (or stolen allies) to deal with him. He's wasting time without using actual Time magic as we see it. (Unless you count him possibly doing some kind of stasis with his card traps).

And that's...kind of interesting. There's possibly other examples in KH, but this is the one top example I can think at the moment.

#answering asks #anon #my kh thoughts #kh meta #kh luxord #character study #of sorts?#the nature of stories

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paodequeijofeliz-blog · 4 years

Text

I would do it all again

Ride or Die Fanfiction (characters and main story belongs to Pixelberry Studios).

Pairing: Mona and MC (Annie)

Information: this takes place after the first book.

Summary: After what happened at the parking lot, each member of the crew tries to build a new life, following the “every man for himself” motto. But Annie doesn’t agree with that and tries to pull them back together, especially Mona, who she has been waiting for too many years.

Warnings: some Angst talk, but not much.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

I would do it all again - Part 7 (FINALE)

People weren’t allowed on campus after 10 p.m. The gates were closed, and securities would wonder around, keeping it safe. From what, Mona had no idea, it was just a huge old building with lots of books in it. Even the computers were too old to worth robbing. She just smiled at that vision, not much of a challenge for her. Sneaking in the darkness, the woman found her way to jump over the wall, fast and silent.

In a few minutes, Mona was already walking through the hallways, clever to keep her distance from the windows. Where did you hide… It looked like the classrooms were all empty.

“Library.” Said a man’s voice. It was the janitor, standing next to the restroom’s door. “She likes to stay there. I leave it unlocked.”

She studied him for a moment but nodded her thanks.

Library was on the third floor and had a light on. Of course Annie would hide between books. Mona crossed it like a lightning, following the heart-breaking sound of a soft crying only to find her girlfriend sitting on the corner. She had a huge coat covering her body, probably something kept in the trunk for cold days. Her face was flushed under the yellow light, a few slow tears still rolling down.

Slowly, the Lebanese took a step closer and sat in front of Annie. Nobody said anything for a while, as the girl kept her gaze down, wiping the tears away. It was so quiet there that Mona could swear she was hearing their hearts beating: hers, faster, like a race car; Annie’s, slow, sad, tired.

After what it seemed like an eternity, the sobbing girl took a deep breath and said something.

“I never meant…”

“I’m sorry.” Mona interrupted. Were her hands shaking? She shoved them into the jacket’s pockets to hide it. “I didn’t want you to find out that way. I didn’t want you to find out at all, actually. You’re right to be upset. I should’ve told you about Ada and our… Short relationship… In prison. You asked me not to fool you and I did. I lied. Fucked it up.”

Annie blinked, her mouth opened, but there was no sound, so the Lebanese took it as a sign and carried on.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I really am. You gave me all the time and space to come clean, I guess I was just… I was just…” she roamed her hands through the dark hair, searching for the right word. “Scared.”

Again, silence. The girl fixed her posture, bit her lower lip, but didn’t say a thing.

“I was scared you would leave.” That was barely a whisper. “That this would be too much for you to accept.”

“I’m not upset about that.”

Mona arched her eyebrows, surprised. “No?”

“No. Of course not. You never promised me anything back then, Mon. I can’t demand or be mad at your for being with someone else. How selfish do you think I am?”

“Wait. So, you’re not upset about Ada?”

“Well, I am bothered that she was standing so close to you today, cause now we are truly dating. But that’s not what really hurt me.” Annie sighed and reached for Mona’s hands. They were warm and squeezed hers in a reassuring way. “I never meant to trap you into a boring life. I don’t want to change who you are, never did. After all of that, I just wanted you to be safe. And that’s all I have. I’m sorry, I can’t keep you safe in a big house, with all the wonderful stuff you deserve. I’m a teacher, a doctorate student, who drives an old car and buys cheap red pens. I’m so sorry. I love you, but I can’t give you what you want.”

That’s when it hit Mona. It wasn’t the part about being together with another woman that made the girl run away. Not jealousy or disappointment.

She was just feeling small.

“Babe, what Ada said about the things I want or enjoy, that wasn’t true.” The Lebanese let out a laugh of relief. The problem was so much easier. “Gee, is that what’s hurting you? Then look at me, and I’ll repeat it: I want to be here. I want to be with you. I want you and everything related to you. Screw the fancy hotels and jewels. They’re from a part of my life I was dead inside, in rage, alone. I’d trade all of it to run an auto shop with two great friends and a hot girlfriend who sneaks into a freakin’ library when she’s sad.”

Annie had her eyes filled with tears again. But she was smiling. A broad, happy smile. “Do you mean it? Are you sure? Cause if I’m doing it wrong…”

Mona stopped her sentence midway by pulling her into a kiss, straddling that silly, cute girl while making her run out of breath. Now she had the face flushed again, but it wasn’t of crying. “Yeah. Dumbass. I’m sure.”

“So, you’re not sad about living a calmer life from now on?”

“As calm as we can make it. You know problems will follow me forever. I still have to pee in a cup for my parole officer. And Ada won’t leave me alone for too long. You heard it. I gave her my word when we did… It.”

Annie tilted her head, slightly confused. “When she said, ‘when we killed that girl’? I thought she meant you. When she turned you into a high profile criminal.”

“It wasn’t a metaphor.” Mona eyes darkened, but her hands were holding the girl close. She didn’t want to lose her. “Ada had a fight with my cell mate. She suffocated her with a pillow while I… While I was watching. At the door. I didn’t do anything to stop her. It felt like I was frozen there.”

“I’m sorry.” Annie touched her cheek.

“She has been holding it against me ever since. I didn’t do anything to help. I didn’t move. I didn’t…”

“You were in shock. I know you did a lot of bad things in your life, Mon. But you’re not a murderer. That’s why you froze.”

“This will haunt me forever.” Her voice became a whisper again.

“We’ll find a way to get through it. Trust me.”

Mona took a deep breath. Foreheads together, they were losing themselves in each other’s gaze. The Lebanese felt broken in so many ways, and yet somehow, she could find peace in that girl’s face.

“After everything you did for us? I trust you. Blindly.”

“I would do it all again.”

---------------------------------------------------------------

“Here’s more beer!” Toby lifted two boxes while walking inside the shop, a credit card hanging in his month.

“Leave it on the fridge and take a cold one for you!” Ximena was sitting on a nice red car’s hood, next to a smiley Annie.

“Nice!” he grabbed a bottle and threw himself on one of those rolling chairs that was left around, spinning closer to them. “The food?”

“Mona’s bringing it.” Said the tattooed girl, stopping him with her foot. “You’ll get dizzy.”

“She’s taking forever. Isn’t the diner just across the street?” Toby took a gulp of his beer, too distracted to notice the expression on Annie’s face.

“Yeah, well, she had a doctor’s appointment today too. Just some check-up. X, do you have the camera?”

“Sure thing, all set!”

A couple minutes later, the old dusty car, Harold, parked beside the fancy red one. Mona jumped out of it with huge bags of burgers and fries. Ximena gladly took it out of her arms and went to leave them on the table, followed by a hungry Toby. “Finally! I’m starving.”

“Hey, babe.” She gave her girl a kiss on the cheek, pulling her closer by the waist.

“Hi, you. How was therapy?” Annie kept her voice low, careful so they wouldn’t listen.

Mona only rolled her eyes, giving the same answer as always. “Boring.”

But it wasn’t true. She was enjoying it. Well, at least, respecting it enough. Otherwise, the Lebanese wouldn’t be going there again every month for the past year. Annie knew it, but why not let the woman have her tough attitude?

“I bet it was.” She lingered for a while on those dark eyes, before suddenly realizing the noises in the kitchen. “Hey, you two! No eating now! Let’s take the picture first. Just bring the beers!”

Toby showed up with a mouth filled with French fries and two extra bottles on his hands. “He’ ya gu.”

“Did you steal some fries?” Annie shook her head dramatically, pretending to be hurt. “How could you????”

“No, I…” he swallowed the rest of it, taking a gulp of beer to help. “No, I didn’t. Me? A thief? Never! I’m totally against crimes.”

“Alright, timer is set to ten seconds! So, everybody, get into place.” Ximena had put the camera on top of a few boxes carefully positioned in front of the shop. It could frame them together with the neon letters on the top.

Mona took the extra bottles from Toby, giving one to Annie while sitting next to her on the car hood. “Cheers to that. Let’s go, X!”

“Annnnnd, now! Ten seconds!” the tattoo artist ran towards then, sitting on the floor, right in front of the red car, her long arms grabbing each one of the women’s legs. Toby preferred to stay up next to them, sticking his tongue out while his right arm was in the air with the bottle of beer in his hand.

The flash blinded them for a second. The first picture as a group again.

“So?” Mona took a long gulp, throwing an arm around Annie’s neck.

Ximena was still shaking the polaroid. “Patience!”

“Oooh I look like one of those dangerous bass players in a Rock band.” Said Toby, peeking over her shoulders.

“Here! What do ya think?”

“Nice!” the Lebanese smiled, proud of how hot she looked in that picture.

Annie needed a little longer. She held the photo and admired it for a moment. They seemed so cool. The cars, the pose, the purple neon letters forming the name RIDE OR DIE.

It was just the beginning of their new lives.

Tagging: @kamilahsayeet2063 (hope you like it <3)

#mona x mc #choices: stories you play #choices: ride or die #now this one #now I'm going to stick with one shots

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yizukikhons · 4 years

Text

TMA x Persona 5 crossover

I’m combining my newest obsession with one of my favorite games ‘cause I love playing the game “what characters from X series would belong to Y category from Y series”

So...

Persona 5, but all the characters belong to different entities from the Magnus Archives (Note: this’ll be based off of the original game, as I have not been able to afford the new release of Royal, and so have not played it yet.) Main Cast: Akira/Ren: Beholding. I debated for a long time about what to pick. What fit the protagonist better? Did his attempts to appear harmless mean he was better suited for the Spiral and it’s deceptions? Or does the fact that he’s a Wild Card able to mold himself into anything his friends needs align him with the Stranger? Or does his anger at unjust treatment give him the greatest connection to the Slaughter, or the Desolation? In the end I went with Beholding not only because that’s what I made the Velvet attendants, but because the Beholding also witnesses all the other entities. It has ties to all of them, even the Stranger which is it’s antithesis along with the Dark. It would make sense that he would have access, have KNOWLEDGE, of all the other entities under this power. Ryuji: The Vast. I almost gave him the Lonely, as after Kamoshida broke his leg he was isolated from his peers, but Ryuji doesn’t WANT to be alone. None of the other entities felt right. The Flesh is too literal, the Web requires more smarts than this boy has, the Corruption makes no sense and so on. I eventually went with the Vast because Ryuji always talks about freedom, and how running made all of his worries fade away, how it helped him connect to his other teammates. Avatars of the Vast have a very laid back look on life and are by far some of the most friendly you can run into, though it doesn’t make them any less dangerous.

Morgana: Beholding. I was originally thinking about whether to make him a Spiral creature or maybe the Stranger, but I realized that whatever Morgana was, then the other velvet room attendants would have to be it as well. And Igor’s JOB is to know things and help guide the player without actually interfering. He can’t belong to anything BUT the Beholding.

Ann: The Stranger: I wasn’t super sure about this one, as the Stranger relies heavily on deception-which Ann is NOT good at-but looking back at all the statements that involve it, it’s evident that it doesn’t try to be GOOD at deception either. How would you know something’s not right if the act was perfect? And as a model, Ann needs to be able to put on different attitudes in order to have presence.

Yusuke: The Spiral. I wasn’t sure which one to give to Yusuke originally. Again, the Lonely was my original thought, as his eccentricities make it hard for him to connect to other people, but being isolated is something that happens TO him, not something he pursues. Yusuke says that he wants to inspire people the way the Sayuri did for him, wants to show the world in new ways. And what better Entity/Patron to follow then the one that does exactly that? The spiral is about fooling the senses, making you see things that aren’t there or perceiving things in impossible ways. What better way is there to describe how art is supposed to make people feel?

Makoto: This girl belongs to the Hunt. You might think the Slaughter because of the rage she feels at being treated like a doormat but nope! That’s her sister. Her sense of justice makes her pursue her prey. She stalks Akira, set traps for him and the Phantom thieves. Not to mention that she wants to be a cop-which tend to lean towards the Hunt due to pursuing criminals. Futaba: Beholding all the way. This girl wants to Know everything, wants to Understand above all. While her vision might have been clouded by grief after her mother’s death, she still Knew they were lying to her and pursued the truth relentlessly.

Haru: Slaughter. I don’t think I have to explain this one do I? Girl canonically has sadistic tendencies, and while one COULD argue that Sadism fits the Desolation better, she doesn’t destroy for destruction’s sake.

Akechi: Desolation. I was originally going to give this boy the Slaughter like Haru due to his anger, until I realized that the anger wasn’t the point. It was directed at Shido. At building him up as high as possible just to take it all away from him. That’s quintessential Desolation mentality. The Desolation is about loss more than fire, and Akechi is determined to make Shido lose EVERYTHING, and believes anything destroyed in that process will be worth it, just to see the expression on his father’s face as he pulls the rug out from under him.

Confidants:

Sadayo Kawakami: Victim of the Buried. Not just because of her debt, but also because of her guilt. The Buried can be metaphorical as well as physical, and Kawakami is an excellent example of that. Sae Nijima: Slaughter. Her anger and tendency to lash out at Makoto are what made me decide on this Entity. She isn’t an Avatar. Like Melanie, she was infected with it and was slowly becoming more and more angry and violent.

Sojiro Sakura: Hunt. He’s been out of the game for a while, so the instincts have largely gone away, but as Wakaba’s friend he learned a lot and that knowledge has helped him keep Futaba safe.

Munehisa Iwai: Slaughter. Former Yakuza? Of course it’s Slaughter; but taking in Kaoru and leaving his clan cut him off from the entity and nowadays he’s just a normal human.

Toranosuke Yoshida: Victim of the Lonely. Being evicted from congress isolated him and left everyone unwilling to listen to him.

Ichiko Ohya: the Dark. It doesn’t fit perfectly. The Dark is about hiding information, not publishing it; but in game her abilities allow you to move around undetected, and her articles help your reputation. I almost went with the Spiral considering how she deceives people, but the characters don’t all need to be Avatars who symbolize their patron. I see it more likely that Ohya is a victim of the Dark, as Shido’s organization is trying to keep her from the truth.

Chihaya Mifune: Web. As a genuine fortune teller it only makes sense that she would be aligned with the Weavers.

Tae Takemi: The End. Enough said.

Shinya Oda: The Hunt. He’s always searching for weaknesses, whether that’s in his competitors or the enemies in game.

Hifumi Togo: The Web. Not only do her abilities allow you greater control over battes, but she’s also caught in the Web of her mother’s making when she’s trying to turn Hifumi into a model.

Yuki Mishima: The Corruption. Mishima uses his ‘position’ as the Phantom Thieves manager to try and gain others respect and take advantage of people. Corruption isn’t always about literal filth and decay, so I think this kind of moral Corruption would definitely put him under this Entities gaze.

Igor: Beholding. I explained this earlier in Morgana’s part, but Igor just fits the Beholding. He has knowledge that he shares with the player to aid in their journey, but he never interferes, never takes action.

Caroline: The Slaughter. I know I said that all the Velvet attendants would be beholding, but I thought that since the twins were two halves of one person, it would be interesting if their Patrons were different to reflect her broken nature. Justine: The End. I wanted to originally go for something different, like the Lonely or the Web. But Justine is a lot calmer than her sister, almost emotionless, and most of all she’s PATIENT, which is a trademark of the End.

Lavenza: Beholding. As a Velvet attendant, she shares the same Patron as Igor.

Palace Rulers: Kamoshida: The Flesh. At first I didn’t know which Entity to give him. Should it be the Hunt, considering his lustful pursuit of the girls? Or maybe the Buried as he tries to pressure Ann into sleeping with him, using Shiho to keep her at his side. I eventually settled on the Flesh because even though Kamoshida was willing to do anything to get Ann as soon as possible and hurt Shiho when she turned him down in retaliation, the Hunt will never stop their pursuit because THAT’S THE FUN PART. There is no end for them. Kamoshida did want to catch Ann.

Madarame: The Spiral. I was originally going to go with the Lonely since he isolates his students, but other than that surface comparison, Madarame has no connection to the Lonely. He relied far more heavily on deceiving his students and tricking them into thinking that they owe him their artwork due to his mentoring them.

Kaneshiro: The Corruption. I mean, he turns into a fly. What more is there to say, except that he possesses the same moral corruption that infects Mishima?

Okumura: The Buried. I originally went with the Flesh, but it felt far too literal. I eventually settled on the Buried as Okumura oppresses his workers and smothers them under exhaustion and debt to the company to keep them in line.

Shido: The Web. I thought about going with the Beholding as a sort of parallel to both the protagonist and Jonah Magnus from TMA, but Shido doesn’t want knowledge. He wants control, to exert his will on the masses, and that’s Web, not Beholding. Yaldabaoth: The Web. The ultimate expression of manipulation. Father of Puppets.

#persona 5 #tma spoilers #the entities #tma #magnus archives #i spent way too long on this #and now I go to bed

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iridescentis · 4 years

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Theories - The New Episode

SPOILER WARNING - This will contain mention of events of the new sanders sides episode.

So, in the thumbnail of the new video, it includes a player dynamic where Patton is selected as the player one character and Roman as the player two. Logan, Virgil, Remus and Janus are not selected, but there is an extra box which is blank, just a grey silhouette. It is next to the dark sides, which could possibly mean a new dark side. And of course, I have been theorizing on what it could be.

We now know that the remaining dark sides, Remus and Janus, both have names which end in ‘us’. The light sides either end in ‘on’ or ‘an’, Virgil is an exception to both the dark sides and light sides, which another subject to theorize. But with the knowledge of the dark sides part, we can potentially narrow down the next side’s name if the ‘us’ thing applies.

Personally, I believe the next side will be called Cronus. Cronus is the Roman God of Time and the Leader of Titans, and is famous for eating his children. Bare with me, this will make sense in a while. So I believe the next side will be the leader of the dark sides, but also Thomas’ evil voice.

It is common knowledge that there is the metaphor of people having an angel and a devil who sit on each shoulder and try to convince you to do either evil or good things. We already know that Patton is the angel as he spends most of the new episode saying Thomas should do good and should sacrifice his wants for other people’s needs. Patton also seems to be the leader of the light sides since he has the most good intentions. You may think that Janus is the devil but he isn’t, he actually wants the best for Thomas and while he might not be morally good, he has more of a grey moral incline. Also, Remus isn’t the devil because he encompasses negative imagination, not negative intentions.

I think the next side will be the opposite of Patton, since Remus is the opposite of Roman and Janus is the opposite of Logan. And since Patton is the moral compass, his opposite would have to be a side completely immoral.

Now to address the ‘ate his children’ part. No, I do not think this side will eat anyone, but there is something that could relate to this. In ‘Embarrassing Phases’, during the end card Janus says “maybe soon, you could be rid of us all.” This is a stretch, but maybe the dark sides will be either destroyed or taken on by this new side, by taken on I mean they will possess all of the dark side traits themself. This is obviously very unlikely, so there may be alternatives such as the dark sides being trapped, becoming good or ducking out. However, this is an interesting thing to think about.

Thank you so so much if you read all of that, I know it was a lot, my inner English student came out and I couldn’t help myself aha. I did quite a lot of research into Roman mythology to theorize this. Let me know any thoughts you have about this, I love hearing new perspectives. <3

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #deceit sanders #janus sanders #remus sanders #sanders sides theory

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vrenaewrites · 4 years

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CARAVAL thoughts:

FULL VIDEO HERE.

Confession: I DNFed caraval about 2 years ago. I even included this book in a video called “reading 5 star reviews of books I hate” (either screen record and insert the clip from that vid or link in the cards skip to like 6:40 or both)

Chapter 1

We open with letters that our main character Scarlett has written to the caraval master Legend

She really wants him to come to her island but he hasn’t

She finally gets one back with three tickets for her Tella and her fiancé

Chapter 2

Scarlett’s feelings came in colors “urgent red of burning coals, frenzied yellow of a flapping bird’s feathers”

She goes to tell her sister Tella and finds her making out with a dude lol

Julian is his name

The edges of the paper “blazed a shimmery gold, the color of magic and wishes and promises of the things to come”

Tella hates the count Scarlett is betrothed to but Scarlett wants to leave their home so bad she doesn’t care who she ends up with

“Gods teeth!” Is the expletive…

The prize of caraval is one wish

They have to leave the isle within 3 days which would be impossible before getting married

Tella’s lips “shifted from broken to unbreakable” NO

Last time they left Scarlett’s dad did something terrible to her

Julian offers to smuggle them to the island for caraval on his sailor ship (pirate ship??)

“Goldenrod desire lit up inside her”

Wishes were about as real as unicorns

Their dad shows up with gloves “the shade of bruises”

Tella accuses Scarlett of hooking up with Julian RUDE!!!!

And Julian agrees!

Ohh because the dad beats the other sister so they’re trying to protect each other by accusing each other

Her marriage is 10 days away

Chapter 3

Her fathers perfume smelled like the color of his gloves

Julian decides to take them off the isle for free after witnessing this

Tella says if she leaves she will never return

“Her world was a grand game board, and her father believed this marriage would be his penultimate move”

“More than your sisters face will bleed” is their dad assaulting them?? Did I just gloss over that when reading this the first time??

“Weather worn white archways” loved

Governor dragna sounds like judge frollo

Their mom disappeared 7 years ago - abandoned them

They have priests and piety and the devil but they don’t use the BC AD calendar instead going by seasons and rulers...why

Chapter 4

She felt the lie from childhood “sneaking into her slippers and moving between her toes” no you didn’t

“A broken dock like a massive tongue jutted out to stones that reminded Scarlett if uneven teeth”

It was nights like these she could smell the moon - I wrote taste at first and taste fits better imo

A friend tried to help them escape once and the governor drowned him for it, Tella didn’t know about this

She meets Julian here at midnight and barters all 3 tickets to keep him from helping Tella escape

Julian and Tella ambush her and knock her out

Chapter 5

“A pock marked moon winked in the glass”

She has a dream about their nana telling them how legend got his name

First of all, legend is a bad dumb name and you should feel bad about it, Stephanie Garber. Caraval is also a bad name.

He was in love with a woman named Annalise and would perform at a coronation to earn her fathers respect, but he needed a witch to grant him a wish of talent

He had to choose between fame and love

So his name is legend because his magic is legendary? How tf did John legend not sue over this?

“Behind her a cloud drifted over the moon, covering all but two tiny points of light, which hovered behind her silver hair like devil’s horns” love this visual

I’m calling it now, we’re getting this flashback because somehow, the dragna sisters are related to Annalise or remind legend of Annalise and this is why Tella gets taken

Chapter 6

She wakes up in a rowboat with Julian after 2 days which is always a good way to pass the 2 days journey it takes without having to make anything happen lol I respect it

Julian calls her crimson instead of Scarlett - hated it then hate it now

Trees “rose toward the sky like massive emeralds” and the waterfall “streamed down like melted peacock feathers” no it didn’t because that makes no sense

Legends private island is called the island of dreams in Spanish

Tella has set up a kidnapping so Scarlett can go back without getting In trouble

“The image of a purple fire breathing dragon came to mind, coating her vision with ashy shades of anxiety”

I remember stopping very shortly after this and now I remember why - I can do purple prose but DAMN

Their mom had “vanished taking nothing with her, she disappeared like a broken star leaving the world untouched, save for the missing bits of light but no one would ever see again” Good purple prose

We get some backstory on how her Nana was more involved after her mother left, and we get to hear again about how great her stories are, even though we just spent a chapter getting that first hand from a flashback

She barters with herself to stay only one day and then go home for her wedding

There’s a hole in the boat so they swim but she didn’t take her dresses off so she starts to drown

“You deserve this” because of Phillippe, like hands the water pressed her down down down

Julian saved her and cuts off her dress which she finds very intense

Chapter 7

So much description of the snowy frosting sand pick one

I get that it’s a magical island but every descriptor up until the sand made it sound like a tropical paradise, and then suddenly the sand is snow and there’s ice and snow on the trees which were just giant emeralds so I’m confused

Because being wet and cold is more scary

“ The snow on the rooftops rested like dust on abandoned storybooks“

A very diagon alley sitch where there are magical stores but none are open...because it’s caraval guys. They’re at the games

They go into a clock shop where there are clothes waiting along with food roses and a note from legend

They change and she sees awful scars on his hot muscly back

Her dress is lame despite every YA trope about the heroine having a princess moment, that’s fun: just kidding it changed colors and shape to fit her perfect

And Julian’s outfit is super hot

He stole a pocket watch

Scarlett was a pretty girl but she tried to hide it, her eyes were too honest, no one noticed girls in ugly clothes

“Scarlet wondered if she had found a way to escape her fathers deadly games only to become a well costumed piece on a new game board” no shit Scarlett you came to the island for the game…

Also you were in such a hurry to find Tella and get into the game before it was too late and now you’re waxing poetic about how hot Julian is and how you’re hot but you don’t wanna be

Chapter 8

“Sage shaded colors of suspicion” I really hate this device she’s using. I’ve used it to describe the colors my mind reading characters see in people's minds. But it’s like twice a book, maybe, to express extreme emotion. Not every time your feelings change.

Some guy comes in and offers them a portal into caraval and Scarlett is like “sure thing” and Julian is like “ummm dumdum” and he leaves

The guys like “oh you just gonna listen to that random guy?” And I’m like as opposed to you, another random guy?

He wants her voice okay Ursula

“A passionate sky made of melting lemons and burning peaches” or say yellows and oranges…

“Until the door was no more” love this, sounds very fairy tale

She leaves and it's like night already, she only has til midnight

Scarlett and Julian get in by him pretending to be the count, her fiancé

They take the path of the players, not the watchers

Chapter 9

“A panicked Vermillion moved inside of her chest as she thought of how specific legends letter had been”

Julian admits he’s played caraval before and Scarlett is like *gasp* but HELLO how did you think he knew all the shit he knew?

He keeps calling her crimson like every time he speaks to her, annoying

“Julian’s smile turned seductive, all shameless curves and immoral promises”

Chapter 10

“Soft golden lights licked her arms with gentle kisses of warmth”

I’m very bored when this house is supposed to be EVERYTHING

The guy who was giving them the rules says, “don’t let your eyes or feelings trick you” And then jumps off the balcony and Scarlet freaks out… He just told you not to trust what you see

Scarlett is the most annoying person

Their instructions are to get to the end by sunrise or they’ll be locked out in the streets, but she’s wasting time wanting to look for her sister - and Julian is telling her that her sister is probably staying at the same place and she doesn’t believe him despite the fact that he’s already done this game before, just trust him???

“A searing green door watched Scarlet like a glowing eye”

This just made me figure out why I don’t like that she’s using colors as an emotional device, because the main character is named after a color, and so it’s just way too many color descriptors

Julian got trapped outside noooo

Chapter 11

But it’s fine because she tells the innkeeper they’re guests of legend - which they are - and he’s let in. Great. Glad there are no stakes. They also used legends name to get the boat to the inn for free.

The hallways in the inn “smelled like the end of the night, sweat and fading fire smoke mixed with lingering breath from words whose ghosts still haunted the air” no

Julian was “poison in an attractive bottle”

Their rooms are actually one room oops

Chapter 12

“But legend saw all during caraval”

She got a message from legend: it’s a key with tella’s name on it

Lmao tella is having sex behind that door for sure

“She felt five different shades of berry colored foolish” this is so stupid

Every time something happens between tella and scar, we get a whole expository moment about how this is related to their mother or their father or the relationship between the sisters… We know. we can tell. we are not stupid.

“Warmth licking her cheek” this metaphor is too specific to keep using it

Some tattooed dude finds her - Dante - and is like “sleep in my room”

He asks her out but she declines because the count

Damn her dress has transformed to be like see through which is why he was into her lmao

She has a dream that legend is a creep lol

Chapter 13

Scarlett totally changes her tune re: enjoying herself

She passes tella’s room and finds a wreck

“Feathers covered the carnage as if a rebel Angel had gone mad” this is so dumb

The key she got with tella’s name was a clue, that other people also got

A pregnant girl offers to help scarlet, and a man steals scarlets favorite earrings from her mother

Then the pregnant girl steals that stuff

She realizes there’s a postcard in tella’s room that isn’t hers

Chapter 14

Tella only loved mermaids, and the postcard is of a castle, which was Scarlett’s thing

The castle is a place on the isle that Julian recognizes

Dante shows up and Julian is like hell nah

Dante won last time Julian was here and it cost him a lot

“Shops wrapped in colors like a birthday presents, cerulean blue apricot orange saffron yellow primrose pink while the canals remained midnight dark” SHUT UP dude

This woman got like a color wheel or a color dictionary for her birthday the year she wrote this book

Time moves fast in the castle

What’s really annoying about this book is Stephanie Garber spends a lot of time talking about things that are boring, and one sentence on something like hummingbird-sized elephants and tigers

There’s a kissing tent and she’s like fuck yeah let’s go there

You’re engaged

Julian sees where she’s looking and is like yeah??

A tingle of periwinkle curiosity

Chapter 15

She goes into the tent of a half naked dude who could tell her fortune

This is all very boring

He has incense that makes people tell the truth and she admits Julian is the hottest guy ever

She asks what’s the man she will marry really like?

He’s not a good person

She’s covered in only pictures he can see instead of pictures only he can see…

She had 2 questions but the way she asked used them up so she doesn’t get to ask about tella

Chapter 16

He tells her to follow the boy with the heart made of black...obviously Dante, she thinks Julian

She walks into a potion tent and finds an elixir of protectio

She mentions her father and feels “anise and lavender and rotting plums”

She describe the woman who works in the potion tent as having “bottle green” eyes, but this entire paragraph has the word bottle in it like 1 million times because shes describing a tent full of potions...all these colorful words you’ve used and this is where you use “bottle green”

I don’t mind the descriptor, my own eyes are bottle green, it’s very vivid, but badly placed

She chases Julian to a decrepit garden with a fountain, and sees a glass button

She also saw a glass button in tella’s room...is this how legend spies on her? Is this where tella is being kept?

“Dreary yellow hopelessness” infected her

She sees the symbol of caraval inside the fountain and touches it, revealing a staircase

Someone screamed as hot and bright as fire

It’s madness tunnels

The inn “smells of laughter and boasts laced with sweetened ale” this doesn’t make seeeeeennnnnnnnse

She finds Julian, but it’s actually Dante and he’s mean to her and she cries but it makes her mad at Julian?????? Stupid

Chapter 17

Julian finally shows up, super bloody but he just had a head wound

She cleans him up and is getting super horny lol

He got her earrings back!!!!!

The fire dies sending up a plume of smoke “the color of things better said in whispers”

She tells him about the tunnels and he says legend treats his prisoners like guests

Julian’s eyes are the color of “caramel and liquid amber lust”

He almost kisses her and then seems to wake up, leaves and “disappointment wraps around her in cool shades of forget me not blue” STOP

Chapter 18

She wakes up to white roses with red tips

Julian is supposed to meet her but doesn’t

A girl shows up “pretty as a watercolor and dressed as bold as a trumpet” DUDE

“Oh poor you, here you are on a magical island, and all you can think of is what you don’t have” get her!

Dante shows up and she realizes he has a black heart tattoo which DUH SCARLETT

chapter 19

The night is “brittle, crisp like the first bite of a chilled apple, smelling just as sweet with hints of burnt sugar weaving through the charcoal night air” THIS IS GOOD PURPLE PROSE! I can taste this!!!!!!!

She’s chasing Dante and finds a cider seller who’s drink will help her see things more clearly, the price is her last lie

She drinks it and loses the color in her vision

The game is constantly working against you?????? How?! You’ve stumbled across tons of clues without any work and there are no believable stakes to this game, this drink is the first time you’ve had a struggle…

Iko holds a journal that’s brownish green, “the color of forgotten memories, abandoned dreams, and bitter gossip”

Even in black and white we get this heavy handed color shit

She realizes anything in color is important

She also sees the red roses on a carousel and the red cravat on a mans neck

He makes her feel perilous shades of silky black - is Stephanie Garner an artist? Does she have synesthesia or something?? What is with this device!!!!

She looks in Iko’s book and sees pictures of her, the special guest

Sour shades of yellow green made her stomach roil with trepidation - HUH????

She’s like “why would he make the game about me?” You’ve been begging him to bring you caraval your entire life, why do you think?

I think I remember the nana saying annelise had blonde hair, and so does tella...are they related to her? Is she nana?

Iko tells her the notebook also holds all the true stories of caraval

Iko will give her the notebook if Scarlett will buy 2 dresses because the changing dress bothers her (??)

Iko takes her to a dress shop where the dresses are “the color of late night laughter, early morning sunshine, and waves crashing around ankles”

The dresses cost nightmares or secrets or fears

She owes her worst fear and greatest desire, or she can pay 2 days of her life per dress

It works but her greatest desire isn’t to find her sister, so she pays with 2 days of her life, not at the end of her life but at the end of caraval

“Panic came in hemlock green, the color of poison and terror”

“Something acidic and moldy and burnt bubbled up in Scarlett’s throat - the taste of death” like this

Scarlett’s body dies but her mind will exist in a dream world

Chapter 20

Dante finds her and drags her into the inn

Julian hits Dante because he won’t let her go hell yeah

She tells him what happened

Julian tried to give Scarlett a day of his life by having her drink his blood from his finger and she’s like “I wanna fuck this duuuude”

“His voice is so gentle, made of gentle” I liked this

Then he drinks her blood from her finger, and the world shatters into a million shards of colored glass

He lays down with her and holds her while she dies

Chapter 21

Death was the color purple.

She sees tella in the dream world, and tella has a huge dark book that swallows her and Scarlett

They see young nana in a house similar to the one they entered at caraval, entwined with a young man

Her grandma is Anneliese DUH

Then she’s at the funeral of the woman who died at caraval before

Rosa was in love with legend and he rejected her so she killed herself

Dante was rosa’s fiancée

Legend is julian?!?!?

Loved This entire chapter but then it means nothing because none of this is real it’s all part of the game so it’s not really story development

Chapter 22

They both wake up

Scarlett tries to convince herself the game is messing with her

Then she remembers what the dream people said about legend loving to make girls fall for him

She has a grey streak in her hair now

Her dad is there!

She finally puts it together - her nana is anneliese

“She could see the sting of her rejection in shades of stormy blue ghosting over his heart like sad morning mist” roll my eyes

But then she remembers that he gave a day of his life for her and is like why would he do that if he was legend

Now she’s changed her mind, so she goes after Julian to find him leaving Dante’s room and walking into tella’s

She goes in after him to hide from her dad but the room is empty

She finds another secret staircase like the fountain

She trips over Dante’s dead body and finds Julian standing over it

Chapter 23

Julian grabs her and is like “I didn't kill him, we were working together”

He shows her a white rose tattoo he has, Rosa was his sister!!

She asks why he had been acting weird and he basically says he didn’t want to have feelings for her because that wasn’t why he had come to caraval

Scarlett is like let’s get this fucker back, but she hears her dad’s footsteps in the tunnel

Chapter 24

They start running, and they hide in a weird alcove from her dad that starts to squish them

She realizes it’s feeding off their fear so they relax and it lets them out

They end up in the sand tunnel and Scarlett is like how could you know I was going to caraval if you were already at our island when I got my tickets

Julian explains that legend is punishing the descendants of anneliese and he invited her to caraval to stop the wedding

Legend had never responded until she signed her full name on the last letter, mentioning her wedding

Julian is the fucking count dude calling it

“His steady gaze reached out to the broken parts of her like a caress, a type of touch that moved through damaged flesh, past fractured bones and into a person's wounded soul.” WOW

Scarlett hears tella’s voice and almost runs straight off a cliff

“Tella loved danger the same way candle wicks loved to burn. It never seemed to scare her that some of the things she lusted for might consume her like a flame” Christ

Julian knew tella would be taken during caraval

Chapter 25

She had to find tella before legend consumed her like a flame burning a candle” you just used a candle metaphor like one page ago my dude.

She gives herself one minute to cry and scream and Julian hears her so he barges in, worried

He apologizes and she gives him the grace I’ve been waiting for as soon as he said he knew what would happen to tella: he had to avenge his sister. Everything they’re both doing is for their sisters, she should be more understanding

Julian is “all kinds of tragic and lovely”

The box was “flat black, the color of failure and funerals” shut UP

Like if you wanna use the color device to describe your protagonists feelings stop being so fucking flowery with every single color in the book it is soooooooooooooooo distracting

It’s the other dress Scarlett has bought but now it’s white

Chapter 26

There’s a note in the box from legend that makes “invisible spiders crawl over her skin” ok

She thinks the dress is the 5th clue - the buttons on the dress reminds her of the buttons leading to the hat store

Chapter 27

They go to the top hat place and Julian is like “this is all wrong”

Iko appears looking like “a teardrop the moon had cried” love it

She tells them not to go into the hat shop

Let me guess, despite both of these omens Scarlett is still gonna go in

“Scarlett had an emerald green premonition that she would make a discovery inside” sure why tf not gotta keep the story moving somehow

She sees the store owner and was like LEGEND and he’s like nah dude I’m just wearing a hat

But he is the guy that was wearing the red cravat and eyepatch from the day her vision went gray

He is the count!!!!!

Chapter 28

Nicholas Darcy

And her dad is there!!!!!!!!!!

Julian gets her out but the count chases her and they get on a boat

She sees her dad and he looks afraid but she blames it on the rain

They row to the castle and Julian convinces her to get inside to hide from the lightning

And they argue about if she’s still planning marrying the count and she’s torn which hurts him

He says “are you sure you want this?” Before kissing her and like is it a consent thing or is it him asking if he’s what she wants either way I love it

“The boy who had saved her from drowning in more ways than one” explain…

They kiss and “every touch created colors she had never seen” that’s so anticlimactic

Chapter 29

The stones fall through the hourglass like “drops of falling rose petals” that makes no sense but we have to include it because...

She finally realizes the roses that have been EVERYWHERE are part of the game duh

She takes Julian to the fountain where the tunnel entrance is

She feels ochre shades of uneasy

Only NOW she’s giving pause at the idea of winning because she could wish them safe...shoulda been your goal all along. Should have been equally as important as finding tella since if you find her you win the wish….I’m signing heavily atm

The governor and the count are there!!!!!

Swear to god if Julian dies I’m going to fucking riot

She wants to split up but Julian is like fuck no

The count catches up to her and the governor pulls her by her hair up the stairs

He punches her in the stomach to warn Julian and she gets back up, with the count trying to protect Scarlett

“A slick mud colored feeling coated Scarlett’s insides” because the governor is holding a knife to Julian’s throat

He cuts Julian’s face NOOOOOO

The governor takes Julian to his room and let’s the count sleep in Scarlett’s room because “he’s already paid for her, he can enjoy her a few days early”

Scarlett stands up to her dad!!!! And then she remembers tella’s words: what if the count is worse?

Scarlett tells the count if she makes her dad stop, she’ll be a good wife but if he doesn’t she will never be his obedient wife

“Do you really want a bride who will only sleep with you because someone will be tortured if she doesn’t?” YES

Chapter 30

The count is like “listen I am NOT like your dad I’m sorry” and she’s like yeah but you’re not Julian

The count starts undressing and Scarlett aims a poker at his eyeball lmao

She finally remembers the elixir of protection in that dress from the tent and soaks the count

The count is like “you’re playing into legends hands” and Scarlett is like “nah he did me a favor by getting rid of you”

Chapter 31

Julian’s cut isn’t that deep thank god but he’s still woozy

“He tasted like midnight and wind”

Leap of faith - roses - it’s Rosa!!!!! She has to ask how Rosa died and Julian says she jumped off a balcony

They decide to sneak out using the tunnels to go search all the balconies

Chapter 32

The town during the day looks like a “faded memory”

She hears music from the rose colored carousel

The musician has been asking for coins the whole time but nothing else cost money

They jump onto the moving carousel and end up in the roses where Scarlett finds the caraval symbol

They have to jump, Julian gives her coordinates to a boat in case they get separated but they run out of time and she has to go in

She lands in a river and lands at a staircase guarded with statues that are definitely frozen people

Legend is there ofc

Chapter 33

She’s a little star struck by legend

His laugh is a rich spicy sound that echoes until he snaps his fingers

Homeboy is mad

Julian ends up there, dry, and...he’s working with legend...NOOOOOOO

Dante and Valentina were also part of the game

Rosa was not his sister...DUDE

She clutches his pocket watch and legend opens it - Julian’s voice comes out apologizing for betraying her

He does love her HE IS ENCHANTED!!!!!

LEGEND STABS JULIAN?!?!?!?!?!?

Oh fuck he is spitting blood oh fuck oh no

Scarlett you got him killed you dumdum

Chapter 34

I’m FUCKING FURIOUS

she remembers that she gets one wish, and she wants to use it to bring Julian back and I swear to goooooddddddd if he doesn’t come back I’m gonna throw myself out the window

Legend is gone, leaving a funeral invitation for tella set for tomorrow this guy is a MONSTER

Chapter 35

She ends up on a huge rooftop way high up

“The air felt soft and poisonous”

Tella is there feeling like “softness and sunlight and seeds for growing dreams”

We just used soft a sentence ago!!!!

Tella is like “you’re confused, the game is playing tricks on you”

Scarlett tells her about their grandmas history with legend

She shows tella the invitation and it now says it’s to a party not a funeral

Chapter 36

Tella has met a boy that’s not legend...it’s a guy she met right before she got taken for the game…

She’s engaged to him??

Scarlett is like maybe tella is right and this is all part of it...Scarlett DUDE

Scarlett has a bitter yellow puddle of dread in her stomach

If Daniel is Dante or Julian I’m gonna scream

Chapter 37

It’s legend of course

Duh

He tries to convince tella to tie Scarlett up you better NOT

TELLA

YOU DUMB BITCH

legend dares Scarlett to walk to the edge of the balcony to prove she loves her sister, so that he can feign worry to tella

They tie her up

The governor and the count show up FUCK

finally legend admits to tella who he is and she just breaks poor baby

Tella backs up to the ledge and says if the governor or the count touch Scarlett she’ll kill herself!!!!!!!

“Silver slippers sliding” toward the balcony

Scarlett breaks free but tella FUCKING JUMPS

Chapter 38

So now who is Scarlett gonna use her wish on?!

Her father looks like “a dragon with no fire and broken wings”

The governor slaps Jovan and legend is like imma fuck you UP

The governor killed Dante!!!!!!

She blackmails her dad with Philippe’s death

She remembers her wish...but who does she use it on?!

Which oof, oof, OOF

Tella is a brat lmao

Legend won’t give her the wish!!!!!

He’s...fading??

Scarlett goes to give tella her blood

She wishes her impossible wish but it doesn’t work

Chapter 39

She goes back up to get tella’s stuff and finds a caraval box with a letter inside from tella to legend that she didn’t know about

Chapter 40

She goes to see legend and finds out he’s actually some dude named Caspar…that was why he couldn’t grant her wish

There’s a stack of letter between tella and legend that basically illustrate that tella was willing to die for legend to get them to caraval

Tella is alive?!?!?!?!?!?

This was all a fucking game?!

Her impossible wish came true, but she had actually died

Tella orchestrated their dad getting to caraval so he could see her die, and so he would leave Scarlett alone

Chapter 41

So Julian is not really dead, but tella wanted anyone who made Scarlett love them to be taken out, that way she wouldn’t get hurt by someone who was just pretending

So she somehow warps this into meaning that Julian didn’t actually love her? Go...ask him??????? The fuck

God poor Scarlett…

So people can die in caraval, but when the game is over, they come back...so there were no fuckin stakes except for tella’s death

Chapter 42

They go to legends party in the forest and Scarlett sees Julian

Iko is there like go talk to Julian dumdum

“Shades of the rich ruby love she’d felt mixed with deep indigo hurt turning everything just a little bit violet” I don’t care I want them to kiss Stephanie

Julian is so hurt that she thinks she doesn’t know him

He’s related to legend…

Rosa dying changed his opinion of legend

He tried to leave the game right before this caraval

Legend is his brother!!!!!!!!!

He couldn’t leave Scarlett because she loved her sister like Julian loved his brother

He stayed because of Scarlett despite how it hurt him to lie to her

Yaaaaaay they kiss yay omg

Epilogue

Tella is dancing drunk at the party and is dancing with a new guy who dances her to the edge of the party...then he’s gone?

He dropped something into her pocket...a coin with a note…

From legend!!!!!