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Scrapped Fangan Cast

There's no real benefit to me posting this but it's fun so I will anyway. My fangan is still in production & will complete but it underwent a full revision so I'll just post the old cast. Make of them what you will ! And ask whatever, I'll answer.

These are all early revision concept designs.

Names:

Dae-Eun Choi

Max Topal

Dixie Dale

Maya R Jen

Judas Conti

(C)Roix "Roy" Rosary

Hamaguchi Haru [浜口 晴新]

Lotus Long

Jules Anim

Lu Qing [吕青]

Eve Anh [維]

Lucy Gray

Parisha Asimov

Rex Hallows

Caleb Good

Nana Nan

All characters are agender and go by any pronouns.

I hope this is engaging, helpful or insightful. Please be well and take care. 👋 Cheers. : )

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Hi!!!!!!! Thank you for writing this theory :D As someone who knows what all of the official songs are, it was very fun to read your interpretations, and see where you were right on the money and where you were making connections I hadn't considered before.

As thanks (and just as a helping hand), I figured I'd give you some context as to the three Project Sekai commissions-- ID Smile, Lower, and One Sheep-- since it seemed like you were struggling in that arena. I was gonna leave this as one of my usual comments, but I quickly realized that what I had to say was way too long for that, so here's a reblog instead. Under the cut we go!

THE BASICS

(Btw I'm picking pink as color coding because all of the sekai characters' colors for these three songs are pink. No DROS hints here :P)

It sounds like you may have already known this, but the majority of sekai events (all of the ones that focus on only one of the five units in the game, as opposed to a mix of multiple) receive a commissioned song from a popular vocaloid producer. Since it takes a long time to make the song and associated MV, these assignments are handed out months before the event drops in-game, and possibly before the stories they're for are even written, in some cases.

Because of this, there's a lot of variety in terms of how much the given producer decides to directly relate the song to the characters, themes, and plot beats of the related events. Certain songs are inextricably related to the characters they were commissioned for, such as kinoshita's Glory Steady Go! featuring one of the unit's unique catchphrases ("wonderhoy!"), or r-906's JUMPIN' OVER! including all of the characters' names as easter eggs in the lyrics. Other songs, however, only barely relate to the characters in question: the best example(s) that come to mind are Tricolor and Haven by Nilfruits, which seem to have been written with whatever worldbuilding/lore they're cooking over on their own channel first and foremost. But, other songs like aqu3ra's Ice Drop also don't seem to be particularly related to the plot of the given event, from what I can tell.

Basically, the point of all this is to say that while sekai context can be important, it's not always super relevant, and many of the songs can be interpreted on their own merits with no context. But, of course, if you don't have any context, it would be very difficult to tell for which of the songs it would or wouldn't be the case. Sadly, you've stumbled directly into Schrodinger's Idol Game. But, that's why I'm here to help you out with the explanations!

ID Smile, Toa: Mizuki Akiyama

You were correct in recognizing that this focus song was for Mizuki, one of the members of the online musical group Nightcord at 25:00. Mizuki's main storyline revolves around her gender: while it hasn't yet been directly stated, it's all but confirmed that Mizuki is a trans woman (which is why I'm choosing to use she/her pronouns for Mizuki). But, no matter the "official label," it's canon that Mizuki grew up presenting more masculinely, but found happiness and truth later in life dressing in cute, feminine fashions.

Therefore, as ID Smile is Mizuki's first focus song, it expresses her mindset of wanting to keep her identity a secret from her new friends, so as not to create any distance between them. Although Nightcord quickly meets up in real life in its first few events, the group started online, and thus, it was easy for Mizuki to interact with them without putting any focus on her gender. She believes that, if she wants to keep things the same in her friend group, and continue to interact with them as a "normal girl," then she can't tell them the truth about her past, for the fear that (even in the very likely scenario where they're accepting of her) things would be forever changed between them.

(Jumping ahead from Mizu1 to Mizu5, the "harrowing event" that happened in that story was that Mizuki had finally mounted the courage to come out to the rest of her groupmates, but was outed against her will by some transphobic classmates literally moments before she was planning to do so. Then all of her sprites disappeared from the overworld for an entire out-of-game month. It was absolutely devastating and totally wild, but it's all fixed now, so we're good!)

Lower One's Eyes, nulut: Mizuki Akiyama

I have no idea if you were aware of this while writing this post, but Lower One's Eyes is also a sekai commission! It's perhaps the commission that's popped off the most in the greater vocaloid community outside of the sekai bubble, but that doesn't change the fact that it was originally created for Mizuki's second focus event (Mizu2, if you will). You can tell because of how much the two girls in the Lower video still look like Mizuki and another member of Nightcord, Ena :P

The sekai explanation for Lower is that of a continued ID Smile: the longer Mizuki has gone on without telling the other members of Nightcord who she really is has both increased her desire to tell them everything and her fear of potentially losing what they have if things went twisted.

Although Mizuki would be devastated to lose all of Nightcord, this song does specifically hone in on her relationship with Ena, as 1) Ena is Mizuki's closest friend within Nightcord and 2) the associated event story is centered on Ena being curious about and trying to understand Mizuki's secret. Therefore, in a sekai context, the "betrayal" aspect is more that Mizuki is worried about "betraying" Ena should she tell Ena the truth about her identity.

I'm not really sure how "I'm disillusioned with you" was included as a lyric at all in the sekai context, but I would guess that it's either intended as (Mizuki to Ena) "I'm disillusioned with the relationship we've built between us because I know it's missing a big part of me" or (Mizuki to Mizuki) "I'm disillusioned with myself for the choices I've made regarding whether to tell my friends about how I feel." Also worth mentioning that, in Nightcord's version of this song, this line is sung by neither Mizuki nor Ena, but instead a third member who's just generally disillusioned with life.

All that said, at least in conjunction with nulut's music video, I would consider Lower one of the songs in contention for being the least directly related to the characters and story at hand. Nulut's music video adds a whole different context and story to the lyrics that, even if they kind of look like Mizuki and Ena, don't seem to match up with Mizuki and Ena's story at all (Ena would NOT expose Mizuki's secret and get her killed).

Either interpretation (or a different one entirely) could be the reasoning behind giving this song to a One Shot character, so, sorry for the tricky one! But, for better or for worse, now you have some more info about how this song applies to sekai 👍

One Sheep, Peg: Kohane Azusawa

(One sheep? In PEG??? Wolfgang Akire?!?!?! /j)

Not to slight your new, highly reputable friend FructoseTolerant, but the snippets of their analysis you included in your post gave me... some pause. Namely, because this song was NOT commissioned for An, who they mostly seem to have been talking about, but for Kohane, who you seemed to know very little about. One Sheep was the song for Kohane's third event.

For some Vivid BAD CONTEXT, the unit Vivid BAD SQUAD was created when two pairs of musicians merged together. One of these pairs (BAD DOGS) is not particularly relevant to this song, while the other (Vivids) was An and Kohane.

VBS's goal is to surpass a legendary concert that was thrown by An's father about a decade ago. The goal mostly stems from An herself, who had spent years performing as a solo act at her family's cafe, whilst looking for a partner who could match her power and passion. Kohane, on the other hand, had never done much singing before, but accidentally stumbled into one of An's cafe performances one day and instantly fell in love with her An's performance and the idea of singing live. Kohane decided to be brave and sing as well, and despite haivng amateur skills, An could recognize the hidden potential in Kohane's voice, and decided to point blank make Kohane her singing partner right then and there.

In VBS's early days, Kohane was definitely the rookie of the team, as the other three members all had years worth of singing practice to her none. However, she very quickly made progress in being able to sing on the same level as the other members-- and in this event, even surpass them.

In sekai context, One Sheep is meant to portray Kohane and the others' mixed emotions at Kohane seemingly start to rise above the others in terms of power and talent. "You're just a solitary one-- Right now, go far beyond them" is the line that most clearly encapsulates this idea. However, much of the melancholy present in the lyrics is because Kohane doesn't want to far surpass her friends. Much like Mizuki, Kohane wants things to stay the way they are, with the four members performing as a squad, instead of being the talented yet lonely sheep.

To go through it block by block, a summary could basically be:

I pretend that the growing rift between our skills isn't an issue because I'd rather "waste my time" on imaginary enemies than pick on someone my own size alone.

I relapse into my own self doubts as another coping mechanism to box myself in so that the curse of my talent won't take me away from you.

The music industry can't support the weight of every hopeful future singer, so someday some people will have to give up, but I don't want to think about that.

Kohane, no matter what you say out loud, you know the truth, so if you're destined to be lonely, don't reign in your power.

You have the ability to be an amazing singer that leaves us all behind, but capitalizing on that potential will leave you lonely.

Putting more of my effort into singing and therefore improving my talent keeps making me miserable.

I'm worried that this new development will change or destroy the love we have for each other, and I'd rather have a terrible time with you than a great time alone.

I see.

You have the ability to be an amazing singer that leaves us all behind, so do you have any right to complain?

You have the ability to be an amazing singer that leaves us all behind, but for now, we're still together, so raise your voice and hope that the worst won't come.

Of course, please take this summary with a grain of salt, both because I have not actually read the story it's related to, but more importantly because (as far as I'm aware), the characters in-universe got distracted by everything you seem to have been hearing about with Nagi, so they haven't really looped back to this growing conflict yet. In the future, there may be more nuance with how different members of the group feel, or future events that make it clearer whether or not Kohane really is considered to be more talented than the other three.

And finally, to answer the question from the beginning of your post... no, even with this whole explanation, we're not trying to bait you into playing Project Sekai, I promise! (/lh) If you or anyone else did decide to get into Project Sekai because of the covers we included, we obviously wouldn't see that as a loss, but it's really just because in most cases the Sekai covers were how we were introduced to these songs and/or the version we listen to most now. Or at least, that's my take on it, idk what Venus' secret goals may have been :P

Anyways, hope this was helpful! And I hope you had fun with all of the song analysis :D

DROS - Character Playlist Analysis

A while ago, the av-multifangan account published the DROS character playlist, a playlist of 16 songs in a random order, where each of the songs is related to a particular character. However, it’s up to the fans to figure out which song belongs to which character. What a novel concept that I haven’t seen any other fangan do! No I’m not just feigning ignorance of the DRDT playlist just because I can never settle on an interpretation I’m happy with,-

(what the fuck do you do with desk rotation???)

-what are are you talking about?

Voluntary amnesia aside, I thought it’d be neat to try and figure out which songs belong to which characters. I’ll also include a confidence rating judging how certain I am of any given guess, with 10 being outright confirmed (so no one’s getting a 10 lol) and 1 being “I assigned this one pretty much at random.” Let’s go!

Spoilers for DROS up to CH3 Part 3. CWs: Suicidal ideation, hanging, religious imagery (christianity), betrayal, murder, alcoholism, addiction, relapsing, gambling,  drowning and sharks, toxic relationships

Gehenna - Aidan Ho

Using a translation by Hannah.

Confidence rating: 6.5/10

That template... talk about a callback, huh? I mean I know of no post which has this template because no other fangan has done this playlist thing (/silly).

Btw I vaguely recognize that a lot of these songs (or the versions in the playlist, rather) have Project Sekai characters on them, right? Is this a secret ploy to get us into proseka? Because I’m already in too many fandoms, I’m not getting into any more!

Gehenna is a peculiar song, where the protagonist makes it very evident they don’t like the life they live. 

Yeah, well, it seems like there's no prospect of recovery anymore Don’t ask me anything. 

However, they don’t want to die. Not because of some hope that things will get better or anything, but just because it’s instinct for them to stay alive. 

I don't know why, but "I want to stay alive" It’s in this Bible called DNA You don't have to hate on your instinct and fears Nothing will ever change, anyway “I want to stay alive” There's no hope ahead, but "I want to stay alive" My instinct thumps in red "I want to stay alive," "I don't want to stay alive" It’s so unfortunate But we have to live

It’s named Gehenna, which for our purposes is just hell (theologists don’t kill me), because the singer talks about life like a suffocating reality they can’t escape, especially since they refuse to die. 

The future, jealousy, the sense of failure Wireless, I can't even hang myself […] A pitch dark, clouded and broken heart I disinfect it with alcohol to sleep I become the gloomy water of the big ocean Falling deeper, deeper, deeper, deeper

You can kinda see how this would relate to Aidan based on his FTE, right?

Aidan [CH1, Page 6]: I know other people care, and I can respect that. If they care enough about something to fight for it– even if that thing is as simple as their life– I wouldn’t get in the way of that. Ellis: You think lives are simple…? Aidan: Caring about your life is. Isn’t that, like, basic human instinct or whatever? Ellis: I mean, yeah, I guess. But it’s not so wrong to indulge in your primal instincts, is it? He shrugs. Aidan: If that’s what interests you. Ellis: And what interests you, then? For some reason, I feel like I’ve been hearin’ a whole lot of “no” and not a lot of “yes.” Aidan: Does it really matter…?

I mean, he literally references the idea that staying alive is just human instinct, and somewhat implies he has no interest in indulging in said instinct. That’s quite Gehenna coded if I do say so myself, and would probably be enough for me to give him the song outright. Combine it with how little care he shows at the idea of dying to stop the motive in CH2, and it really does seem like this might just be his song.

The Chattering Lack of Common Sense - Mark Nolastnamegiven

Confidence Rating: 5/10

GHOST AND PALS MENTIONED!!!!!! I AM INGESTING ARTHROPODS AS WE SPEAK!!!1!!

To be entirely honest with you, I’m assigning this on Vibes and like three lyrics. Chattering has a… confusing sort of lore, where there’s a lot of background information on its characters, Arc (the one with the bandages) and Say (the one without the bandages), but most of it isn’t easy to discern from the song. The comments on this linked post have the longest explanation I could find (though they omit that Say and Arc apparently eat humans which is mentioned in other sources), but I don’t actually know where the commenters got that information so take it all with a grain of salt. 

Thankfully, the truly important parts for our purposes are kinda mentioned in the song. See, Say and Arc aren’t human, though they try to blend in with humans:

[Say] Basically, I bet you'll see At first, I'm not quite what I seem Every day is just the same (Picking names, repeating faces) Everything is show and tell And things are played off somewhat well

This takes a particular toll on Say, who wants to be “normal.” 

This is what I've come to be [Say] (This is what I shouldn't be)

Also importantly: they don’t remember anything before the age of 6! They have no idea how they got to where they got. That might remind you of someone, maybe.

While the feeling of inhumanity that Say struggles with, and the general idea of trying to blend in with society, could be taken to represent a few different characters, I think the actual moment of lore the song seems to be about is a bit more important. I believe the song shows the moment Arc and Say meet for the first time, around age 18. I say that mainly because of the focus on first meetings and new experiences and views in the song:

[Say] Basically, I bet you'll see At first, I'm not quite what I seem […] [Arc] I could never understand How first impressions go unplanned […]  [Both] Turn around about a new view Bring about the fear inside you […] [Say] I've been contemplating Fallacies and things that scare me Why not try to let go? I've been feeling out of order! I'm allowing change, so Take a good look, this is me This is what I’ve come to be! […]  [Arc] First impressions reborn This is what I've come to be! (This is what I shouldn't be) This is what I wanna be!

You can probably tell where I’m going with this. Mark’s entire character is based on the fact that they don’t remember anything, meaning everything in the killing game is a new experience, so the theme of new experiences, rebirth, change… they’re all definitely prevalent in their character. That’s not even mentioning the whole “multiple introductions” thing Mark did with Ellis.

Mark [CH1, Page 47]: That reminds me. I wanted to do this over again. They stand up and extend their hand towards me. Mark: Hi. I’m Mark. I’m not sure what my Ultimate talent is, and, uh, I guess I’m using they/them, for now, at least. It’s nice to meet you. Ellis: Nice to meet you too, Mark. I’m Ellis Ortiz, your Ultimate Lucky Student, and… the man of your dreams~

Ellis [CH1, Page 153]: You seem much more aware than when we first met. Or when we second met. You need a third meeting? I extend my hand. Ellis: Hello there, beautiful stranger. It is I, Ellis Ortiz– Ultimate Lucky Student, any pronouns. They laugh and scratch their cheek gently, a bit embarrassed. Mark: I’m Mark. Still don’t know my real name, talent, or previously preferred pronouns, but… glad to be here with you.

Combined with the lines about being “out of sorts” and “out of order”, Chattering is a song which certainly fits Mark’s vibe.

And while my confidence rating is low, that’s because I feel there’s other characters this song could go to as well. However, I still give this one to Mark, because those other characters have other songs which could go with them, while I struggle to come up with many other options for Mark.

Btw supposedly every character has a Vocaloid song and an English song, since there’s an entire extra 16 songs which haven’t been released yet. But CLOCS is a Vocaloid song and in English, so. Which does it count as? xD

Bitter Choco Decoration - Taylor Long

Using a translation by MML!opinions!Fun!Chocolate!

Confidence Rating: 8.5/10

Now this is a Taylor song! Though, I have been confidently incorrect regarding stuff about this character in the past, as evident by me very confidently guessing them to be an Actor instead of Impressionist pre-Prologue, so. Lmao.

Bitter Choco Decoration is a song about someone who molds themselves to be what other people want of them, never going in any extreme direction personality-wise. 

I try not to pointlessly expose myself, Not to talk about myself, not to understand myself But I try not to be a bit too silent, To be laughed at rather than to make people laugh

Most lines in the song follow that formula, “I try to do this, but not too much,” to really drill in the point of the singer wanting to be what people wish of them. Which, of course, is a very Taylor thing to do, as their entire thing is trying to become what people want them to be.

Taylor [CH1 BS, Page 2]: I try to fit in, but at the end of the day, I’m just me, you know? The only special part about me is when I’m doing an impression of someone else. Other than that, I’m just as regular as you. Robert: Really…? It sort of makes sense, but I still feel like Taylor has always had a way better grasp on the situation than I do. Then again, maybe I’m just reading them wrong…? Robert: But, your impressions are so cool. Taylor: Hehe, thank you! But, I really just use them to make people laugh, and so that I don’t say anything weird. Robert: Weird? Taylor: Like, um… I bet if I, as me, started talking about conspiracy theories, it’d be really weird. But, if I pretend to be Kennedy, it feels natural! No one questions what I have to say, or why I said it that way.

There’s other examples, but you get the idea.

Vegas Lights - Antonia Cisneros

Confidence Rating: 9.5/10

Come on, if a song called Vegas Lights doesn’t end up being Antonia’s or Ellis’ I riot (/silly). Apart from the obvious (that Antonia is from Vegas and a goddamn casino Dealer), even the non-strictly gambling lines here sorta fit Antonia’s character and vibes.

Oh, if you only knew What we've been up to I guarantee you'd keep it secret

You can connect that to Antonia’s whole thing about secrets she had going on with Cass:

Antonia [CH1, Page 148]: We weren’t dealing with only the mastermind, darling. We were dealing with “secrets.” And, while I may not want to say them here, I have things in my past I’d rather not share, especially if I were to attempt a murder.

Also:

In the Vegas lights! Where villains spend the weekend, the deep end We're swimming with the sharks until we drown

“Swimming with the sharks” can be taken to mean Antonia playing along with the “house” (literally in the casinos, and by killing someone per the mm’s wishes in the killing game) until it eventually caused her death. 

And I’m sure there’s others you could point to, but I feel my case has been made well enough.

Pheles - Paris Hall

Using a translation by Hiraethie and Violet.

Confidence Rating: 7/10

A song about rumors and secrets? Songs like just the one for our favorite Ultimate Gossip! Pheles is a song about… well to be frank I’m pretty sure there’s some context I’m missing, but it kinda sounds like it’s about some kind of spy acting after a war.

As for discussion, let's talk loudly about it after the violence is over The iron scraps have gone rusty, there’s value in rumors […] Rumor go! Rumor go! The rumor has been going around. Now, let us go while we’re in control Rumor go! Rumor go! The rumor has been going around The unleashed frustration. Rumor go! Rumor go! The rumor has been going around Now, let us go while we’re rebelling Rumor go! Rumor go! The rumor has been going around that She’ll be the queen to save the world!

This already kinda narrows down our suspects to either Paris or Cass. And while I absolutely think Cass could work here, especially since I find some of the lines about “saving the world” and the Mephistopheles symbolism fits them better, there’s another song which I feel fits them just as well, while I struggle to come up with other songs for Paris. 

If you’re not convinced, I’ll point you to this particular line, which feels much more of a Paris thing than a Cass thing.

When you get fed up with even people's deaths, just like a gum that's lost its flavor, you would spit out and throw them away, wouldn’t you?

Considering the whole “Paris doesn’t have a loved one” thing from CH2, we can infer she doesn’t care too much about other people, and from there suppose she wouldn’t be too bothered by their deaths either. Of course, though, she tends to hide this lack of care. You could say-

 Hide even your desires behind a mask Don’t let them know your real intentions

Yeah that. 

All in all, I’m comfortable with this pick for Paris, and the only reason my confidence rating isn’t higher is because Cass exists.

Nonsense Bungaku - Vivi Mitchell

Using a translation by bluepenguin.

Confidence Rating: 1.5/10

Ah, here’s a hard one! See, the song is called Nonsense Bungaku because it makes no sense!

Alright, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. The vague idea I got from reading others’ interpretations is that the song’s about finding oneself in a world of absurdity. It uses weird and random phrases to convey the titular nonsense while simultaneously talking about its themes. 

A mid afternoon rendezvous Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo I’ll shower you in lonely love We, with our sickening hearts, Will be reborn today

So… why am I giving it to Vivi, then? The idea is that Vivi’s obsession with reviving the dead could be considered “nonsense”, but she chooses to embrace it regardless. 

We  Become idiots, dance in midair And forget about the present, rat-tat-tat (rat-tat-tat)

“Become idiots” could be interpreted as “believing that Vivi can revive the dead”, as it is a bit of an outlandish idea, “forgetting about the present” because it gives hope of a future with no more deaths in the killing game.

Let’s dance ’til it’s light, let’s heat up the night So we can give tears the heave-ho and not sleep So that it doesn’t end up becoming a lie

Vivi wants to continue doing what they’re doing (“dancing ‘til it’s light”), so that they can make good on their promises (“so that it doesn’t end up becoming a lie”) and make the others happy (“give tears the heave ho”). 

I won’t be sentimental; I’m not afraid anymore With a sharpened blade of words, nothing is useless […] I’m so fed up already with you and your contrariness

Vivi’s deciding to push ahead with her goals without fear of failure or ridicule, and is getting tired of the others putting her down. The word “contrariness” is funny because Aidan, but Vivi does have some connection with him through Kennedy, so it kinda works.

And there’s probably more to be found there, but make no mistake. This is a reach. An insane one, even. The lines are so vague and up to interpretation that you could realistically make an argument for this song to go to, like, half the cast at least. I wanna call out Ellis in particular as a possibility, because as we'll see, my guess for them isn't particularly great, and this fits them somewhat well. That's to explain the abysmal confidence rating. However, I’m happy enough with Vivi, so that’s the guess here!

Nothing to Say - Jeff Breeze

Confidence Rating: 8/10

When this song started playing, I thought of Jeff so absolutely and definitively that if this ends up being wrong I will be horrendously embarrassed. That said, this still feels extremely Jeff coded. 

Nothing to Say is a bit hard to describe, but it’s basically the life story of someone who’s experienced a lot, made mistakes, moved on-

But if I could take another swing or two I always hit my target when it ain't brand new

(AKA “I always fuck up at the start, but I don’t make the same mistake twice”)

-and yet can’t really think of any sage advice to give (“I’ve got nothing to say”). That’s because while the vibe the song gives off is that the singer is content with their life, they seem to recognize it isn’t for everyone.

And I heard the message, and I wrote it down Some time spent lost is a life spent found A hundred bad habits come in one good day And I guess that's all to say I got nothing to say

(AKA “I may have wasted some time, but I got something out of it. But I know my habits are kinda bad, so you shouldn’t take me too seriously”)

This kind of vibe, of someone who’s experienced a lot but always in a more or less shallow way, fits Jeff decently well I’d say.

Now even though I've been known to waste I'll keep a lost cause rolling with a travel case […] If I had got what I'd been looking for You'd see me right now looking more and more And what I do got now got me on my way So I'll talk but I got nothing to say 

See? A very active life of moving around a lot, never settling down. Perfect for the Ultimate Absentee!

Poison - Noah Walker

Confidence Rating: 3/10

If you know the song and the character, that confidence rating might surprise you. I mean, a song about alcoholism and partying where the singer is worried about what their mom would think?

Let's bounce All night We're turning off my memory This club Is our house Will my momma ever forgive me? I wanna be cheered up I want drinks all around I wanna break my rules I wanna rock this town And oh Well shame on me And I guess the snake got free 'Cause we got the poison on our tongues

(Poison being an allegory for alcohol if that’s somehow not obvious)

I mean, that’s extremely Noah coded! How could it not be his? 

Simply put, because Ellis exists. Just as drawn to alcohol as Noah, just as willing to go wild to ignore their real issues, and a decent amount of suppressed shame to boot. There is a very legitimate argument to swap those two, especially if you’re willing to speculate on information we haven’t gotten in the story yet for the song which I actually gave to Ellis if you want that one to go to Noah. 

But that will make more sense in the Ellis section. For now, all you need to understand is that I believe Poison fits Noah very well, but this has a low confidence rating because it could also go to Ellis.

Lower/Lower One’s Eyes - Vanessa Bravo

Using a translation by Oktavia.

Confidence Rating: 3.5/10

(Why does this have two names lol)

So this one’s a little strange, and kinda comes down to the fact I don’t have many songs to give Vanessa. 

Lower has some biblical interpretations about Judas and Jesus, but I’ll talk about it in more abstract terms so it’s easier to relate it to DROS later. Though just from me saying that, you can probably imagine it’s a song about betrayal.

Gradually becoming disillusioned with you, The curtain’s about to rise– it’s showtime, Thus we’ll soon say goodbye to the quietness of this theatre

The singer is becoming disillusioned with someone else, but they’re hiding it, pretending like in a theater play. See, they’re actually very conflicted about betraying the other person.

Left with a guilty conscience ever weighing down upon my back I wouldn’t dare obey my heart’s desires– instead bottling them all up, They want to get along with the other, but can’t get themselves to There are things in theory I’d like to come to terms with, but I just can’t I’ve been keeping them all to myself, though I might explode from it […] Should we be fated to part, should we be fated to lose one another I pray we may be reunited each and every time such a thing happens If you’d just do me the honor of staying, staying and never to part, Then I’ll get to remain the only one who knows what this salvation feels like […] “Why don’t we get out of here before it all goes to hell?” …Again and again, I’m whispering that too-good-to-be-true wish to myself

You get the idea. Someone the singer loves is doing something wrong, the singer knows it’s wrong, but still feel conflicted in turning their back to them. 

The connection I’m drawing to Vanessa is through Antonia, of course. At the end of the first trial, Vanessa knows Antonia’s done something really wrong, but she still feels bad about what’s happening.

If that doesn’t convince you, you could also take this to be related to Vanessa’s actions in CH2 in a more abstract sense. She wanted to kill someone to stop the motive, something she considered a more or less noble thing but would still be a betrayal of some sort, so she was conflicted in wanting to do it.

… Yeah voting for Antonia’s a bit more straightforward. Given I struggle to come up with other songs for Vanessa, I’m gonna call that good enough!

Addiction Governance - Ellis Ortiz

Confidence Rating: 1/10

Welcome… to the single worst guess on the list!

Now, sometimes these are difficult because the song’s vague and can be taken to mean several different things. The issue with Addiction Governance is actually the opposite; it’s so explicit that it’s hard to relate it to any given character, because you can’t easily bend it to the DROS story the way you can with stuff like Nonsense Bungaku.

Simply put, Addiction Governance is about someone falling back into an addiction they thought they’d moved past. 

Temptation always wins I hear you calling out my name Don't worry I've always been this way I thought I'd take back everything And say I was out But here you are now […] Fate arrive Take what's mine I know I walked in sin Addiction governing

There’s little specificity on what the addiction actually is, as while there is a reference to gambling-

Could I escape in time if I realize But I gamble it all on numbing fees

-it can also be taken to mean the “numbing fees” are the addiction, which is more general.

So, what now? Ellis definitely has a few vices, from drinking to gambling, so it seems like it works at first glance. But remember; Addiction Governance isn’t just about addiction, it’s specifically about a recovering addict relapsing. 

Does that really apply to Ellis? He doesn’t really express much of an interest in stopping his drinking or gambling habits, so whether he’s addicted or not, relapsing isn’t necessarily a concern.

That’s why this can be swapped with Noah with a little speculation. We know less about Noah’s history than Ellis’, so it’s possible that he’s drinking more in the killing game than he’d like, or even that there’s some other addiction he’s tried to drop but is coming back in the game. I imagine people would bring up if someone asked for anything harder than alcohol in the Costumer Service Desk, but y’know, maybe they missed it. 

However, we don’t have evidence for that. And there is an angle I can see with Ellis that isn’t there for Noah, which relates mainly to these lines.

Thought I could rolled the dice Thought I could paid the price Saying it won't take me [sic] Could I escape in time if I realize […] But now the damage done Is creeping into every day Shoulda slowed the dose [sic] Too late now […] I thought I'd take back everything And say I was out But here you are now

Instead of it being about relapsing, the song can be interpreted as someone who thinks they can get out of their habit before it becomes an addiction. This reckless attitude could potentially be connected to Ellis’ attitude towards the killing game. They believe they can coast off of their luck and survive without getting attached to anyone, before they “get in too deep.” Something something gambling addiction combined with the idea that she can stop it before it gets too bad something something?

As you can see, it’s a bit iffy, but it’s close enough for me. And with that interpretation, combined with the lines in Poison about “momma”, my final call is made. While I could still see the swap between Ellis and Noah, Ellis on Addiction Governance and Noah on Poison is what I’m going with. Especially because no one else really comes close to working with Addiction Governance in my opinion.

Veils - Kennedy Rey

Confidence Rating: 8.5/10

I mean. Do I even need to show you anything beyond the line in the image above?

I keep falling into the night To look at what goes on out of our sight Lift the veils that cover our eyes! Forget about death and fight for your life!

Technically speaking, Veils is about someone trying to uncover what issues are hampering a relationship, but the theme of looking past the surface level and finding hidden truths is more than enough for me to consider this a Kennedy song. Ironic, that Kennedy of all people has one the songs making me do the least amount of conspiracy theorizing. 

One Sheep - Robert Smith

Using a translation by Hiraethie and Tapewormreverie.

Confidence Rating: 3/10

Now this guess was a hard one, because I'll repeat what I said in the Vivi section: what the fuck is this song even about??? I couldn’t figure out shit about the lyrics on my own. I had to look up fucking Project Sekai analysis because I’m pretty sure the lack of context was destroying my chances of understanding One Sheep. Like I’m sure the song can stand on its own, but seeing as it was written for a proseka event, getting that type of context probably doesn’t hurt. 

What I found was this video by FructoseTolerant on Youtube, which I will uncritically accept as entirely correct in its interpretations of proseka characters because I have no way of knowing if it’s wrong, and from there try to relate their interpretations of some of these lyrics to Robert because I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.

I want to pretend to be a desparado  “You think you could do that?” my self-hatred creeps  Such a roar, so to speak, is a scapegoat  It’s as if a curse has clung to me 

Video Analysis Transcript: The first line having the word “pretend” instead of quote unquote “be” is a reflection of how, in the end, An just wants to pretend to be like Nagi, because in the end she’ll have to realize that she can’t be Nagi, she has to be herself. 

You can connect this to Robert wanting to be more like the other Ultimates, failing to realize that being the Ultimate Normie has its perks too.

Robert [CH1 BS, Page 3]: Just being here makes me feel like freaking out. I have to try so hard to pretend I’m feeling normal and not lose my cool, so that I can fit in with everyone else. But, even if you don’t see your talent the same as everyone else’s… you still don’t seem that scared. You’re managing the situation fine, in your own way. Taylor looks at me with a slight frown. I feel like I’m being studied, in a way. Taylor: Do you think that’s a good thing? That we’re all so “normal” about being in this scary situation? Robert: I don’t know if it’s a good thing. From my perspective, it’s something I’m jealous of. I wish I wasn’t so scared… Taylor: Well, I think it’s a good thing. Robert: Why…? Taylor: It means that you’re assessing the situation realistically, and that you have things you’re worried about getting back to at home. Those are both good things, aren’t they? Robert: I guess so.

I, uh, hope An gets to a point where she can be happy living as herself! (?) ‘Cuz Robert sure as hell didn’t! 

You’re just a lonely one, so Let me hear that voice of yours

Video Analysis Transcript: [That line] made me realize that voices are meant to be heard, and so does my voice too. Everyone’s lone voice is different, and comes with its own story. 

Robert may seem normal and average, but as we especially saw near the end of CH2 Daily Life, his voice deserves to be heard too! 

O, lone sheep, go tear the darkness to pieces, the entire thing [...] You’re just a solitary one— Right now, go far beyond them

Video Analysis Transcript: “Tearing the darkness” gives me an image of illuminating the path and making your way into the great big world. 

Uh… something something Robert is isolated from other Ultimates but he’s still able to contribute and bring joy into the world in his own way something something?

I’ve been getting hurt more and more often by this “something” that I no longer see as a hobby Did they make you say that? That “I love you” There’s no way that exists here till the end of time

Video Analysis Transcript: With [the first line] sung by An, who is scared that Kohane will leave her even more…

(I’m assuming the other two lines are also somewhat connected to that idea even though the singer in the Vivid BAD SQUAD version changes :v)

Dude, this An girl is going through it! Don’t worry girl Kohane seems… like the name of a nice person, I’m sure she won’t leave you! (?)

Uh… back to ideas of alienation, that Robert feels like the other Ultimates might leave him behind? Hell if I know lol.

Anyways. Again, I have no idea if this is right or not, but between it vaguely working at times and sheer process of elimination, this is the guess I’m going with.

Pushing Daisies - Harper Young

Confidence Rating: 4/10

Fun fact, the last change I made in this playlist guess was swapping Vanessa and Harper. I had misinterpreted Lower and I didn’t like Pushing Daisies for Ness, so once I figured Lower out, the swap was made!

Not that Pushing Daisies makes significantly more sense with Harper, mind you. The song’s about someone in love with a girl who is already in a relationship, but one where she’s apparently not treated very well.

Oh I lost my head again Cause he's the one you're drinking with And you don't know you're better off alone

The singer pleads undying loyalty to this girl, and promises to follow her until he’s pushing daisies, aka until he’s dead.

For you I'd give the whole damn lot But tell me what good is all I got? Cause I'll follow till I'm pushing daisies You're on my mind Oh my my

While I struggle to see the “bad relationship” angle with anyone in the cast, the pledge of undying loyalty fits well enough with Harper’s nice and caring personality. Ve definitely enjoys making others feel better, and the idea of helping until ve physically can’t makes sense for ver. Specifically, I could see a connection with how Harper wants to help Noah feel better, even when Noah’s a bit bothered by it, as the song does have a bit of an attitude of the singer feeling like they know better than the girl they want to help.

... Is what I would have said a week ago! Yeah this post was mostly written before CH3 Part 3 lol. Because with the release of that last part, there is actually some more evidence that this song could refer to Harper's feelings towards Noah. For one, there now is a specific person who could be seen as the bad person who the "girl" hangs out with: Paris.

Noah [CH3 Part 3, Page 13]: Harper, it’s– Paris: Noah.  Noah: … Noah looks at Harper, then at Davis, then at Paris before looking at his plate. Noah: It’s… probably for the best if we just go along with it. No sweat, right?

Someone who is apparently kinda mistreating Noah, but Noah's going along with it and ignoring Harper's worries. Maybe?

More importantly, though, this:

Harper [CH3 Part 3, 24]: I should be taking more of a stance, in line with what I believe to be true. And what you believe to be true is…? Ellis: If you believe anything, that is. It’d probably be worse to get stuck defending a side you only 30% believe in. Harper: I suppose “believing” a side isn’t quite the right way to put it. What I believe is that this conflict is needless and we should be putting suspicions aside to work towards a solution. But, it’s difficult to convince some of the others of that, especially if I don’t express myself clearly enough…

Harper wanting to express that something is wrong, but is worried about whether or not ve can properly express that to the others? Feels like...

I got an itch But what can I do If all I do is think about How she'd take the truth

Maybe? It's an angle you can take with some other characters, mainly Taylor, but with Bitter Choco Decoration being here as well, I'll take my chances with this Harper guess.

HIBANA- Davis Love

Using a translation by Forgetfulsubs.

Confidence Rating: 7.5/10

You would know this prediction was coming if you’ve been reading my reaction posts to DROS, as I’ve actually brought it up before! You may also know how I interpret this song if you’ve read my analysis of the Milgram Es cover for it. The basic gist is that the singer is in a relationship, and they want their lover to be more assertive. 

Aa, I don't like this; Choose both. Aa, I don't like this; Break both.

The singer doesn’t want a pushover who is too scared to hurt them to do anything committal, because they consider that a fragile, “weak-minded” love. 

I don’t want to harbor a love that will never end – Come on, properly fill me more with anxiety. I’d like you to act your part at peek a boo – Come on, answer to {what I ask} more properly! nanananananananana It’s “incomplete”, I’ll say it time and time again nanananananananana Amidst a love that missed hitting “NO”. [...] I don’t want to love a weak-minded love Come on, make it hurt more properly. Going so far it’s no longer funny, is surely much more enjoyable, Come on, melt me more properly!

So the singer wants someone who isn’t afraid of saying “no.” Some kind of contrarian, possibly. One could even say, the singer would love to be with the Ultimate Contrarian-

Jokes aside, the Aidan-Davis propaganda isn’t the only reason I’m giving Davis HIBANA. Davis generally seems to dislike non-committal people, especially in the context of relationships. 

Davis [CH2 BS, Page 17]: Have you been in a relationship before? Jeff: Ehhhh. Not in such a serious way. More just… we hang around each other for as long as we want. A week, or a month or two. Not usually longer than that. Something I said seems to have particularly bothered him, because he’s back to half-glaring at the table.

You can see the point, right? Davis doesn’t like that Jeff doesn’t fully involve themselves emotionally in their relationships, the way that the HIBANA singer is mad at their lover for being indecisive and too scared to hurt the singer to really put their whole personality on the table, per say. Does that make sense? Hopefully!

ID Smile - Cassidy Torres

Using a translation by Shiopaca and Violet.

Confidence Rating: 7.5/10

ID Smile is about a secret the singer is keeping about their identity because they’re worried about how it will affect their relationships.

If I want to connect with you, then I can’t part with my secret If we had made this world that composes our existence of being charmed by each other ring out,  Hey, could we stay this way, just like this? 

I... honestly think I can leave it at that and that’s all I need to say about that one lol. Cass kept a secret about her identity for the entire time she was alive: she was a spy. Yep. With Vegas Lights knocking out the other big candidate for this one, ID Smile ends up being one of the easier ones to explain, and the only reason my confidence rating isn't higher is a combination of Pheles being here and other characters also having secrets.

Btw this is about that Mizuki character that took over my dash a while ago right? That’s pretty much all the contact I had with proseka before this, so I hope whatever happened in Mizu5 wasn’t as horrendously harrowing as that image I kept seeing implied. Or that at least the fandom enjoyed whatever horrors actually came from that lol. 

No Hands - Grace Thomas

Confidence Rating: 8/10

And we reach the last one! No Hands is a song about how life sometimes changes without our control, making us feel that we’re riding around in a vehicle with our hands off the steering wheel. 

Nothing lasts forever, you've heard it all before The brutal winds of change are knocking at your door No hands! I just keep riding around again to these broken-hearted beats, yeah

The big theme to focus on here is how some changes can be irreversible, taking us to the main line that connects this song to Grace. 

The clocks are ticking, they talk behind your back They echo every second that you've wasted in the past But nothing lasts forever, you've heard it all before It's time to face your demons, they're knocking at your door

I mean, it’s pretty clear, right? Grace’s character is mainly defined by their hatred of time wasting, so a song all about how you need to take the chances you get because you have no control of when things are going to change forever is right up their alley.

Particularly, it brings to mind their situation in CH2, where their life changed without their control when their boyfriend died during the motive announcement, and they decided to take action before even more time could pass, and more things could change as a result. Aka, they decide to stop riding with “no hands” and instead try to take control of their situation by killing Robert. Thankfully, we can end with a guess that I’m actually decently comfortable with!

-

Woohoo! This took way longer than it should have, but it’s finally done! I wanted to do this before even more content about DROS came out, since I didn’t want it to be too easy. Should I have waited longer so I could make better guesses? Maybe! I imagine a large quantity of these will eventually be proven wrong. But I had fun, and that’s all that matters. Anyways, thanks for reading! If you made it this far, you deserve your own theme song! Hope you get a cool one xp See ya’!

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With Trial 3 quickly approaching, many people are wondering which verdicts to give the prisoners in this final run. Well my friends, the answer is simple: forgive everyone. These poor inmates have suffered at our hands for long enough- 3 of them have already died- and it is time to take a stand against this inhumane cruelty. In freeing the prisoners from this torture, we not only also free Es, the poor warden who has been unjustly forced into their position, but we free ourselves, from being the blind puppets of Milgram!

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. JOIN ME IN VOTING ALL FORGIVEN TRIAL 3!

og images :]

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ough, I finally finished

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ᨓ・🍎﹒✦﹗﹕ Miraculously, I just remembered I have Tumblr, so I posted here too my contributions to the MV fan! Thankful to Rimu for giving me the chance to participate in this!

(I'm less on Twitter/X.... I think- @JX_KorisLvsYou)

MV Link: https://youtu.be/qXJGQeBwfuw?si=XmoQL2jiGMlVwtp4

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Your call

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milgram as silly headlines

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what a waste, what a waste

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Happy DRDT 5th Anniversary!

(I'm late)

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far shore

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Happy Anniversary DRDT

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traitor perk

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based on teto mv mosu