#I like to think they're the same narrator. and that song is about the events leading up to their imprisonment in this one

[vimbry-moved]

me if listening to "no one knows my plan" was illegal

[beauty-and-passion]

So... The Thunder Saga

Or, as we can call it, "Of Intentions and Pride".

By now, Mr. Rivera-Herrans is a guarantee of quality: he makes a song, it will be a bop. He will also psychologically destroy you and hype you up at the same time and give your brain a good scratch - especially if you know the Odyssey already - and the narration is so clear and the characters so flawed... let's just say, you will leave by being completely satisfied.

Fine, the songs might not be musically incredible, but the references, the voices and the lyrics are absolutely perfect. They pick up from all we experienced through Act I and introduce us to an Act that, with those premises, will definitely be characterized by pain. But, like, a lot of pain.

And we all like some sweet sweet angst in our lives, so let's talk about the songs a little more in detail.

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Suffering & Different Beast: We! Got! The! Sirens! In my first post about EPIC, when the Underworld Saga wasn't out yet, I hoped we would have the sirens here and so here they are: the sirens!

I like how Mr. Rivera-Herrans decided to change the events regarding them, compared to the Odyssey. In the original story, Odysseus wanted to hear the sirens' song, so while the crew plugged their ears with beeswax, he was tied to the mast and he actually listened to that song. And yes, it drove him crazy, he begged and ordered to be released, but the crew didn't listen to him, until they were at a safe distance.

So the original Odysseus' encounter with the sirens was characterized by curiosity. He knew they were dangerous and still wanted to listen to them.

But the premises in EPIC are completely different: in the previous song, Odysseus just sang about wanting to become a monster. He won't let anyone stop him from coming back home. This is his main focus - it has always been his focus, since Troy: coming back home to his son and wife. He's not curious about everything, he's not willing to take risks. He's different from his Homeric counterpart.

(I think this also explains Jorge's short about not using EPIC as main source while talking about the Odyssey: he was about to change one of Odysseus' main characteristics, of course he wanted people to not mix up the two things)

So, when Odysseus meets the sirens here, he's not curious about them: he just sees them as a means to his end. He plugs his ears too just like his crew and gets to them the information he needs. That's it. No curiosity, no interest. They're just another enemy.

Hence why, he has to slay them. It doesn't matter if they're begging: he made a mistake once, he won't make the same mistake again. As Poseidon taught him: ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves.

Speaking of the sirens, I also love how their "luring song" isn't just a simple song: they literally use Penelope's voice and shape, to trick Odysseus into getting in the water. And that makes it way more impactful: just imagine this man, after promising himself he will come back home to his wife, sees his wife calling for him. The perfect temptation.

I would also like to point out this sentence from Wikipedia regarding the sirens:

"Some post-Homeric authors state that the sirens were fated to die if someone heard their singing and escaped them, and that after Odysseus passed by they therefore flung themselves into the water and perished."

I don't know if Mr. Rivera-Herrans knew about this, but I love the idea that Odysseus was responsible for their death both in the Odyssey and in EPIC. The only difference is that he was indirectly responsible in the original, while in EPIC he's a ruthless beast ready to slay the sirens firsthand.

Speaking of that, I really appreciate how his crew united around this new version of their captain. He's a "man-made monster" and, as someone on Tumblr pointed out (can't find your post anymore, I'm so sorry!), this can both mean "a monster made by a human" and "a monster in human shape" and they both perfectly sum up who Odysseus is now. Still, they accept this and actively support it... at least when the monster's ruthlessness is directed towards others. They will regret that soon.

One last thing; I like to think that the last line "Odysseus" is a reference to King, because that's another song when he will "kill them all" too.

We're off to a dark start and I love it.

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Scylla: her voice is haunting and beautiful and I will never stop falling on my knees weak with love for those incredible singers. Mr. Rivera-Herrans, thank you for always finding great voices.

I also noticed how, from the moment Odysseus decided to become a monster, the monsters/powerful figures started to understand him. We will see this with Zeus too, but we see it way, WAY more with Scylla.

Odysseus barely talks for the entire song. He says three lines only. But he doesn't really have to talk, because Scylla perfectly explains everything that is going on in his mind.

Odysseus says he doesn't have a lot to say? She says he's hiding "a reason for shame", because he already planned the death of his men.

Eurylochus confesses he opened the wind bag? That left Odysseus "feeling betrayed" and "broke the bond of trust the two men made".

Eurylochus is sorry? Still, Odysseus already made up his mind to sacrifice these men and, since now Eurylochus confessed his betrayal, then he can be one of those six. As Scylla says, "There is no price we won't pay" and "We only care for ourselves".

About the last part, I love how cool and dark her voice is, so driven by bloodlust... it's perfect. And it still explains what Odysseus feels, the heaviness, the regret, the sadness: they're still his men, his companion, his brothers. And if all other times their death was unintentional, this time he actively betrayed them.

But still, despite what he feels, he did it. Because "We must do what it takes to survive". And so he did: in order to survive, he sacrificed the expendables.

And yes it's dark and terrible, but it's also perfectly coherent with the character he is now. He knows he has no chance against Scylla and he must pay a price. He knows must survive, to come back home. So, he decides to pay that price and sacrifice six men, to save more - and most importantly, to save himself. Because in the end, it's like Scylla said: everyone wants to survive. Homo homini lupus.

Even darker. Love it.

(One tiny mistake I would like to point out, because it's the second time it happened: "We're lonely demons from hell", what 'hell' are you talking about, Scylla? Maybe the Christian one? Because I can assure you, there's no 'hell' in Greek mythology. But okay, fine, I'll let it pass, because I've seen this same mistake in a lot of works too - especially fantasy stories with a made-up religion, mentioning a 'hell' that doesn't exist)

__________________

Mutiny: as said before, in Scylla (and in Thunder Bringer) we see the monsters/powerful understand Odysseus and see through him. Here, on the other hand, we see how Odysseus' crew doesn't understand him anymore.

Once again, I love it because it makes sense! Odysseus decided to become a monster, so of course now he's more similar to their enemies, than to the other humans. He's driven by one thing only: home. Empathy, kindness, brotherhood, nothing else makes sense anymore, except for home.

It was still okay, when Odysseus directed his ruthlessness towards their enemies. The problem rose as soon as he directed his ruthlessness toward his own companions.

Why? Because of intentionality. When Odysseus' (and Eurylochus') actions led to the death of most of the men, it was never intentional. It was always a mistake. A mistake he paid dearly, but not something he wanted. Hence why, despite blaming and probably having a grudge against him, the crew never rebelled against Odysseus.

This time, it wasn't a mistake. This time, he purposely sacrificed these six men. And he didn't do it to save others, he didn't even try another plan: he did it, because he had to survive. It wasn't even for his own crew: it was for himself.

That's why, despite six being way less than 500+ held more weight for them. An unintentional sacrifice means "I've tried hard to save everyone and failed"... but an intentional sacrifice means "I'm willing to kill everyone, to save myself".

So, we get the sun god's cows. And considering the premise, this episode is even more impactful. It's not just "Odysseus' men are fucking idiots and ate the cows despite knowing they were the sun god's cows". It's a crew of tired, broken people who went through a lot of shit and have lost all hope of coming back home. They're just men.

And so, as men, they make a mistake. They forget how powerful and vengeful gods can be.

But if they forgot, Odysseus did not and the last part perfectly shows his fear, the sense of urgency, the dread. He knows who is coming, everyone knows it and there's no need to tell who is coming, because everyone just knows he will come and that silent threat is enough to make them run away as fast as possible.

Jsut not fast enough.

__________________

Thunder Bringer: the other songs might just be good, but this one SLAPS SO HARD. I love dramatic songs and this one is INCREDIBLE. The singer's voice is deep, rich, powerful. It's truly a thunderous voice and you immediately know who he is.

That's another great choice: no one calls Zeus' name, nor introduces him. All other gods were announced by something/someone or introduced themselves - but Zeus doesn't need to. He's THE king of the gods, he's THE powerful one. He doesn't need others to tell his name, because everyone knows who he is.

And that makes him SO. FUCKING. COOL. Also because, consider what he said. He didn't tell "I'm pissed" or explained why he was there and his motives. He doesn't need to explain his motives. He just said "I'm here and someone will die, make your choice".

This alone emphasizes the sheer power this figure has. He doesn't need to justify his actions to the mortals: the mortals already know what they did. He's just here to deliver. As he said, he's "the judgment call/The one who makes her kingdom fall".

This is great too, because it's what Zeus does in myths too! In most of the myths, the final decision is up to Zeus: he decides who should be punished or rewarded and his choice is final. (Only the Moirai are above him, but they represent fate and fate was an unmovable aspect of life, so they don't count.)

And the whole metaphor Zeus uses to talk about pride is great too. Sure, it's sexual, but I wouldn't expect less from the guy who fucks everything that breathes. Still, the main focus is not on how much he wants to fuck (which is what most of the people who do rewrites focus on), but on his power. And, in this case, on his ability to unmask every pride and every pretense, to show people's true colors.

Just think about it: when he asks Odysseus

If I were to make you choose The lives of your men and crew or your own Why do I think they'd lose?

he's literally revealing his true colors.

As said before, Odysseus has ALWAYS been obsessed with coming back home to his wife and son. He said it during the Troy Saga, he reconfirmed in every saga: he fights for Penelope and Telemachus, because he wants to come back to them. His crew is made of his brothers and companions, sure, but he never said "I will come back home with them". He always said "I will come back home".

What Zeus is doing now is revealing who Odysseus has always been. He's giving him a choice, already knowing what the answer will be, because he wants him to admit who he truly is.

Do you know what that reminds me of? Berserk. I haven't read it in full, but I know the story and if you've read/heard of the Eclipse Arc, you know too and you understand what I mean.

If you don't know (and don't care about the spoiler - otherwise, skip the next two paragraphs), Griffith is the leader of a powerful army and, during the story, he talks about his dream and how he's willing to sacrifice anything to his dream. His companions? He owes them, he says. Why? Because they sacrificed their own dreams, to help him achieve his. They died, to let him follow his dream. So he needs to fulfill his dream, otherwise their deaths would be in vain.

And when everything goes to shit and after he loses everything and gets one final chance to fulfill his dream, but the price would be the death of ALL of his army... he does it. He willingly sacrifices them. Because that's who he has always been. Because that's what he has always done. Because his dream has always been more important than everything else.

Back to Thunder Bringer: I also love how all voices softer and more subdued, in contrast to Zeus' thundering one. It's a wonderful effect, it emphasizes how "huge" he is, compared to mere humans. Odysseus can't escape, no one can. The tears in his voice are full of pain. But he already made his choice back in Troy - he made it even before sailing from Ithaca.

Now, his nature has finally been revealed. and he will deal with the pain it brings.

But hey, he's not the only one to do it. You have to deal with it too, because, as I said, sweet angst is sweet and these songs are bangers. So listen to them, stream them and shower Mr. Rivera-Herrans with love because he deserves it.

And also, don't forget to stream the new versions of the Troy and the Cyclops Saga! They're new, updated, more beautiful, with better sounds and, most importantly, the revenue will go to Mr. Rivera-Herrans' company and not to the old company that never gave him a cent for them. Fuck them and their greed, this man deserves money and credit and to work on more cool stuff.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll do my 30th listen of Thunder Bringer...

[mythicalartistx]

KH opening Songs are about Soriku -Chikai Translation

KH Utada songs are sung and written in thought of Riku and Sora, Nomura told Hikaru Utada and they went along with it.

The difference between the English and Japanese versions of the songs is that the lyrics are completely different, but for a purpose. It's not like a translation issue.

There is an absolute reason for it. They're two separate songs with different but similar meanings.

Like Chikai doesn't translate close to Don't Think Twice except for the Kiss me Once lines.

We're going to take a look at Chikai since it's the one I'm most familiar with and break it down on how it relates to Riku.

I don’t care much about destiny, but at this point, I cannot but acknowledge its existence

Are you really sure you’re happy with me? Really?

I wish you wouldn’t raise my hopes up too much

The fire line refers to he doesn't like destiny but is forced to acknowledge it chose certain things from events.

It shows that Riku is insecure and shown that through how he acted in KH1. He thought his best friend was going to leave him and he did bad stuff.

In return it made him feel worse about his friendship and he went to castle oblivion and dealt out his insecurities along with the darkness and fear. Then he had to be one with the darkness in 358/2 days.

The line where is stated to not raise his hopes, I think refers to his emotions towards Sora and hope Sora didn't care about his appearance he was still his friend.

It could also refer to he papou fruit.

But it's gay.

Today is the perfect day for a truthful, eternal vow

We don’t need beautiful flowers or witnesses

Let’s wear rings of the same color

The narrator wants to PROPOSE. I assume the narrator is Riku here, he wants to be with Sora and then get married. There doesn't have to be an audience or witness, they can just wear rings of the same color. And then the vow line is just 👌

It probably refers to the promise Riku made to want to protect him/ his friends.

It’s so dang annoying, that I want to fall asleep clinging to you every day

I will not make promises anymore, those things are for pleasing somebody

What I am about to say is not a second hand line, nor a promise; it's a vow

He is shy and embarrassed that he likes him and that he wants to fall asleep next to Sora. This is so cute 🥺

Like he clearly wants affection but is embarrassed like in DDD when Sora hugs him.

Then he says he wants a vow since those are seen as eternal while promises can be broken.

I can’t go back to being the liar I used to be

Our rings shall be the color of the sunrise

Lay your heartbeat on top of mine and let’s dance

Let’s celebrate the fact that we live in this moment

The liar is probably referring to not telling his feelings and how he acted against Sora in KH1 and then felt ashamed for his jealousy. Then he talks about the RINGS AGAIN the color of sunshine. Like dawn and he wants the road of dawn.

This section is just him being gay and wanting to lay with him again. He wants to lay together where Sora's heartbeat is on top of his so he'll hear and feel it. This is a bit too much for me to handle. Then the last line I think probably is Kh2 ending where they are content with each other 😊 😆

The tears that I can’t hold back sometimes, there’s no deep meaning to them

It’s just that I recall the past unexpectedly (Ah, I want to cry)

A light streams in from the opened door

This part breaks my heart. He sometimes cry because of the past and what he did in KH1 and probably insecure about that and feels like Sora deserves better.

The light streams refers to KH2 ending where the door opens from the darkness. And how he is also shown to be light, also Sora being his light.

I want to be with you, for a very long time

Other options have long been gone

Today is the perfect day, for an unprecedented vow, our vow

He wants to be with him for a long time and how he doesn't want to loose him. However that ends up happening in KH3 ending.

Other options are gone refers probably him realizing he might have a chance. Then the line is about their gay little vow.

Like in the games they are into each other and these lines are just so fitting and so cute.

Kiss me once, kiss me twice

Once is not enough

Kiss me once, kiss me twice

Please give me you

You know how I said he's too shy, well he's too shy to do anything and wants Sora to make the first move.

Like he secretly wants to be kissed, hug, touched, ect.. He wants affection from him. Here he wants to be kissed but once isn't enough and he is giving his connected permission to be kissed and wants to make sure he's okay with it too. He's like more needy here since this line pretty similar to the DTW counterpart song.

Kiss me once, kiss me twice

Kiss me three times

Please

The please here adds everything like he really wants it and he is asking for it so much.

Kiss me once,

kiss me twice

Give me you

Repeated line so we're moving on..

Let’s listen to the sound of the sunrise, side by side

Let’s vow to live our lives together

Okay so basically he in turn says let's live vow to live our lives together. It could refer to marriage or just a vow to live together because they like each other. And they'll be by the sunrise referring to Riku like the DAWN he walks the road of dawn.

And that is it.

It's pretty gay and like if you don't ship them fine.

And if you don't see how it relates to them that's okay, however Nomura did mention to Utada to keep them in mind when writing the songs.

And if you ship Sorkai tell me how you think it relates to them instead.

I'm just curious.

DTW and Chikai are vastly different but they are different songs with the same instrumental and beat.

[reogan]

Jenny From Thebes Song Perspectives

John Darnielle has gifted us a beautiful album of deliberately unclear timelines and events. I'm working on parsing things out and putting it into words, and I want to start this project off with an overview of when songs from the album take place and who's the narrative voice, if any. I'm including the subtitles from the vinyl edition in italic parenthetical. This is a personal project, but if you're interested in following, it'll all be tagged Jenny Timeline, even if it's actually not about the timeline. These get long, but they are not my intended forthcoming actual song-by-song analysis, so things like the meaning of the seventh shield will not be here.

Clean Slate (New arrival at the safehouse): Lays out the status quo at what is, to us, the start of Jenny's story. She has the Color in Your Cheeks (All Hail West Texas) house, where people of any stripe can shelter.

2. Ground Floor (There was, en route to greener pastures, a small house in the city): This was originally called "SW Ranch" which confirms that the Color in Your Cheeks house is Jenny's west-facing southwestern ranch-style house (Jenny, AHWT). It seems to me to just be a description of the house and the vibes in the same way that Clean Slate is about the general purpose and process of the safehouse. Also the status quo at the start.

3. Only One Way (They consider one another in the often harsh light of how the world is): I don't like that I'm saying this, but I think the "they" of the subtitle is still just the general "they" who came in by the dozen, walking or crawling (Color in Your Cheeks, AHWT). There's a communal introspection of mortality. I don't want the Lodger to be here yet because they're introduced in the next song. Except...the timeline is screwy, as we'll see. So maybe.

I do think that she's gotten, if not official notice, warning signs about the coming eviction (maybe rezoning campaign by the city council, maybe increasing attention from authorities). There's no place to hide from what that prophesies. Because of this, I think the perspective is that of a lodger, and maybe the Lodger, warning Jenny to watch out. If it's just a lodger, this is pre-bike and pre-murder. If it's the Lodger, it's because the cops are closing in more than the coming eviction.

4. Fresh Tattoo (She commemorates her present station on her forearm): This is, pretty plainly I think, where Jenny meets and begins to shelter the Lodger, her foil in this album. Because of my reading of Same As Cash and From the Nebraska Plant, this is post-18th Street, post-murder, as Jenny picks them up on the bike. John Darnielle says "This will be her last lodger, and it's her first tattoo, and the day will prove to be decisive in her story." Picking up this person (John uses the masculine pronoun) isn't probably a big deal in itself, so the day being the murder day matters.

5. Cleaning Crew (The next best thing to an actual goodbye): Hey, Jenny and the Lodger just met, so let's separate them forever. I am Not Sure who the perspective is, but I want it to be Jenny. She's in the doorway, helmet in her arm, time short. Instead of a goodbye, she asks the Lodger what their plan is--it's better if you have one.

If Jenny is the narrator, describing the Lodger, who is on the couch for three weeks (Fresh Tattoo) as being passed out on the sofa with Naltrexone in his veins makes sense. She might be concerned about the scanner at the airport because she's going to ground (and thus riding off on the Kawasaki). I don't know how she relates to Portland. Is that in her mythos?

6. Murder at the 18th St. Garage (Behold, you may not rezone my house): One of the most Darnielle subtitles, tbh. Jenny is the narrator of this, and she's got her Civic sedan (Same as Cash) in the garage. She kills the mayor, as John says in an interview somewhere. Easy.

7. From the Nebraska Plant (The future, seen from a hard place): In terms of real events, I think this is the last song chronologically. The Lodger looks back on meeting Jenny, who already had her bike on that day ("I recall the curb" refers to their meeting, "Still, you handed me your helmet" means she had the bike). The Lodger is on hard times again and dreams of Jenny returning, but the bike is gone and so is she from their life.

8. Same as Cash (She trades in her old car and buys a Kawasaki GPz750 Turbo): I don't hold a driver's license and I don't care for noise. I want this bike. This is directly after the Murder at the 18th St. Garage. Jenny has done the initial cleanup and needs more supplies and she's sitting in her Civic sedan freaking out. With a little pressure in the right place, she trades it in for (William Staniforth Donahue's?) her Kawasaki and rides it home, meeting the Lodger (Fresh Tattoo), who narrates this.

9: Water Tower (She disposes of the body): I don't know where this fits into the exact timeline. It's after the Murder at the 18th St. Garage and is probably before Fresh Tattoo, but it's the same day, I'm sure. Or, at least, starts there. I've got thoughts, but no answers.

10. Jenny III (The future, seen with great clarity): I don't think this song is real. like Jenny (AHWT) and Great Pirates, this is a fantasy. It might actually be the fantasy of the song Jenny. Which is heartbreaking. Narrator is the Lodger.

11. Going to Dallas (As far as anyone's concerned): Jenny narrates. This is the End of any concrete knowledge of her. May God go with her and forgive her.

12. Great Pirates (The future they both deserve): A confirmed fantasy. May we all be healed.

[elsaqueenofstress]

some djats fans are very very insufferable when it comes to the whole "unreliable narrator" aspect of the story. an unreliable narrator is a character who lacks complete credibility or accuracy in their retelling of the story, which is what you get in the book. however, it's not because Everyone Is Lying All The Time On Purpose: it's because they all have literally different perspectives on each moment. warren and graham are convinced that "the six" sounds like "the sex" because it's what they felt at the time, but billy and karen disagree. daisy and billy think that the aurora cover is gorgeous and iconic because it spotlights them, while everyone else rolls their eyes at how predictable it is. warren still believes, forty years later, that karen was hooking up with one of the roadies because graham and karen's relationship was a secret, so his stories are sometimes completely false. graham can't view karen's choice to get an abortion as hers, and emphasizes his own betrayal over the feelings she expressed to him because they hurt too much. things like that!

"unreliable narration" doesn't just mean lying all the time, and it gets a little lame to watch people (most of whom are d/b shippers) claim that's the case. the book's opening lines aren't "they could have been making this shit up!" – they're "some [interviewees] were more forthcoming than others...on matters both big and small, sometimes accounts of the same events differ. the truth often lies, unclaimed, in the middle." there were probably details that characters left out on purpose, but why would everyone, especially after having not spoken in years, have agreed to completely lie about everything? billy tells his grown, adult daughter about cheating on her mother repeatedly, about missing her birth during his addiction, about the deep attraction he felt for daisy. people are so desperate for their ship to have been physically canon that they disregard these details and claim that he was just protecting julia's feelings (again, she's like forty at this point??) or that he and daisy agreed to leave out their apparently torrid affair (which especially falls apart after tjr released the bonus pages, where camila explicitly tells daisy "don't try to sugarcoat anything on my behalf" and daisy promises to do so). it does a disservice to whatever shreds of nuance or subtlety the book had, all traces of which the show decided to throw out the window in favor of cw-level drama and clunky character arcs

anyway the show's reasoning that "this is what really happened!!!" technically doesn't even hold up bc they changed too many random details lmao. like no matter how strong whatever they were smoking during the seventies was, i don't think it was enough for them to mass hallucinate the twins and pete, collectively forget what month they played chicago stadium, and all pretend like graham and karen didn't tell them about their relationship...? loved the casting loved some of the songs loved simone's plot but that was Not a good show methinks

[polysprachig]

For the ask meme, can you tell us about your experience using Irish, and if you can, tell us about the Continental Celtic Languages!

Hi anon, thanks for the message. <3

What a refreshing question! (As usually I think people are more keen to know about the experience of learning Irish, rather than actually using it.)

Irish is one of the big 5 languages I use in everyday life, so I use it quite often.

I use Irish to speak to my friends in a weekly online crinniú, speak to my dad in public & whenever we feel like switching, speak in general when I am in Ireland (usually it’s in the Gaeltacht and/or we meet up with other Irish speakers elsewhere—the breakdown of go-to languages during my last stay was something like: 65% Irish, 25% English and 10% Greek. There was also some French, but only minimally). I also use it to utter old-school curses, prompting everyone to tell me not to do that.

I also use Irish to write notes to myself, write creatively, spontaneously narrate historical dramas/fantasy series while I watch them like Merlin and Medici (agus rith sé amach chun rudaí amaideacha a dhéanamh lena chlaíomh mór a bhí aige), think (I like changing the language of my mental commentary, as I’m sure all multilinguals do when the mood suits them), and read, although the last has been more about reading/improving my Irish writing project from the pandemic which is borderline fanfiction and less about actually reading the Irish-language books on my shelf recently.

My experience using Irish has been generally positive—although I have spoken to people so eager to show off their own skills that they seemed to regard monologuing as high conversation and completely ignored their conversation partners i.e. me, myself and I, but I go off.

Given the massive difference in levels you can experience in an international meánrang or ardrang (the latter occasionally ranging from A2+ to native speaker-like depending on the programme), the ability amongst learners/people at immersion events or Pop-Up Gaeltachts to understand each other based on gist and intent (rather than pronunciation and grammatical accuracy) seems rather high compared to other immersive experiences I have had (where, say, a learner using the wrong article, such as saying ‘das Kinder’ instead of ‘die Kinder’ would be met with O_O and claims of that statement being impossible to understand—as a German teacher to lower levels I don't understand how people can insist they don't understand in cases like that). At the same time, many learners/speakers are so eager to engage with other learners/speakers that they're willing to jump into conversation about just about anything, which I find ideal for gaining a wide range of practice.

About Continental Celtic Languages, I don’t know much. As for insular: I can understand what they’re saying in Outlander, but I can’t read song lyrics without a translation. I may or may not have taken northern Welsh pronunciation and some A1 level.

[mania-sama]

If you don't mind me asking, can I ask your top favorite fics that you've written (feel free how much that you want to list)? Why they're special to you? Is there a specific inspiration when you wrote them?

Thanks if you want to answer.....

Hello! Thank you so much for sending in an ask, this is so exciting!! I would LOVE to answer this question!!

I've grown and changed a lot over the years since I began writing fanfiction when I was like, ten years old. Some of the fics I'm going to list aren't objectively well-written or my best work thus far, but they still have a special place in my heart for whatever reason. This question is so fun and I actually think about this all of the time. A lot of my most popular fics are ones that I'm not particularly proud of myself, so I'll gladly take the opportunity to talk about the ones I do like!!

In no particular order:

rule #8 - otherside [Bungou Stray Dogs] -> I wrote this for my Whumptober prompt series (which currently makes up a HUGE chunk of my works right now lmao). The reason I like this so much is mainly because I really enjoyed writing it. I've always wanted to write a fic where a character's mouth gets stitched shut, but I never got / found the opportunity to do so. Then Whumptober came around. I think I executed it well enough, especially since I chose Akutagawa, who struggles with breathing on a good day. If I get to grind my favorite characters through the Whump Machine, then I'm always very happy. I guess I just like this specific trope leaps and bounds better than all of the other ones? X

with every line, a comedy [Genshin Impact] -> I had a lot of fun writing this one, too. I got to explore PTSD in a way I'd never had before, going through the eyes of someone entirely disconnected from the traumatic event but knows the person being affected by it. It's my longest completed work, too; I write mainly short one-shots, around 1-4k words on average. This was a bigger project for me, and the first long-fic I've ever finished. I also used one of my favorite albums for the fic and chapter titles, so every time I listen to the songs, I think of this fic. I just. Really love this fic. X

Dear Kaeya, Signed Diluc Ragnvindr [Genshin Impact] -> I like this fic a lot because it's stylized very differently from everything else I've written. While not being an x reader, it is technically in second person, like I, the narrator, am talking to the reader. It's written in that same "talking" way, too. So I don't use any dialogue tags or anything like that. That is all for the second portion of the fic, though. The first half is made up entirely of letters the Diluc is sending to his adopted brother. I don't write him writing the letters, it's just the letters themselves. You read it like he's talking to you, in a sense, but the reader knows it's directed at Kaeya. It was a very fun and cool way to explore a new writing convention. X

the difference between hurt and injured [Genshin Impact] -> Lots of Genshin, I know, but this was when I was starting to fully fledge as a writer. A lot of my gradual progress can be seen through these fics, and this is a really good one to use as a comparison. This is my first attempt at much more serious writing, I think. It's longer than anything I had written at the time, sitting at a nice 20k words I wrote in the span of a few days. In general, it has a lot of things I really wanted to write about: the failures of the foster care system, complex / failing relationships, and the consequences of failing to act. The title comes from something an old softball coach would say, and I hated it but I could never get it out of my head. So I used it to title the fic, and it relates very well to what happens in the fic. Diluc is the "hurt" portion; he's fine, really, but his stubbornness makes him think his wounds are still bleeding. Venti, twelve years old in this for the sake of the AU, is "injured"; he is not fine. His wounds are bleeding, and he's doing the best he can to patch it up before he bleeds out, but more keep opening and he doesn't know what to do. X

rule #13 - waterfall [Jujutsu Kaisen] -> I like this fic because of the idea, more than anything. I have a very specific image of Megumi falling into a coma after Itadori saves his soul from Sukuna. If I could write this fic a million different times, I would. I simply love this vision. I also got to talk about literature, because Itadori is reading books to Megumi. Another idea I love that I got to convey through this fic is the idea of souls being separated from their comatose bodies. It provides an interesting take on being caught between life and death. I won't lie, I was probably inspired by one of my favorite fics of all time, When I Awake. But I also think it comes from a series I read when I was younger, the Serafina series. In the last book, the main character's body gets split into three different parts: flesh, spirit, and animal. Very interesting, and I think it's stuck with me for all of these years. X

rule #17 - two sides [Genshin Impact] -> Another case of finding a new writing convention. I wanted to focus more on external and internal dialogue to be the main contributors to the story, though I'm not sure how well I achieved this goal. It's crime-focused, and I wanted to slowly reveal the information rather than it being outright known off the bat. I wanted to put these characters who obviously know and trust each other very well into a situation where all of that shatters, where one is at the complete mercy of the other's decision, where both of them are suffering from the same crime, but one of them is the suspect of that crime and the other is the main investigator. SO much fun!! X

rule #26 - gideon [Bungou Stray Dogs] -> This one I debated heavily on adding, but I'm going ahead with it anyway because I happened to realize I really, really love this one. It's just Atsushi and his backstory, but if there were no abilities. He escapes, and Chuuya and Dazai happen upon him on the road. It's simplistic in comparison to some of the others on this list I think, but I love Atsushi and I love his horribly messed-up backstory with all my heart. Along these veins, I'm going to put rule #31 - calamity [X] as an honorable mention. Another horribly messed up backstory where Atsushi stars as the tortured main character, and I happened to really enjoy writing and thinking about it. The final honorable mention is rule #15 - four aces [X] where I toy with Dazai's character, and what it would mean for him to have finally defeated Fyodor. X

Again, thank you so much for asking!! Most of my works are on Ao3, so if you're curious to read more, I have a lot there! Much love <3

[5283]

hear me out hear me out (hanji's lyricism appreciation rant incoming)

why do jisung's lyrics hit me in the weakest spots ...... the wordings he uses.... it's definitely that, but it's also how vivid the imagery that he creates is..?

his imagery has a similar aftertaste as one of my favorite korean indie bands has (achime is the name of the band btw) – they have this particular kind of rawness and this childlike innocence to how they word things in lyrics. yet what really pulls at my heartstrings is that what they sing about aren't child-level topics at all – they're very much adult worries – meaning they're complex and multifaceted YET they're being conveyed through rather simplistic and very familiar everyday imagery. there's this song about a little boy losing his shoes at the beach, his mom shrugging her shoulders saying "the sea must've taken them away" and the boy just crying. i've lost count how many times i've cried to that song, but like the storyline is such a simple everyday happening, you know? what jisung's lyrics do to my heart is very similar to what achime's sound + lyrics do to me.

han's lyrics are spectator-like and extensively descriptive. they give off an impression like he's describing events from 3rd person's pov. that it's the observer in him just laying out what they observe rather than being the main character who experiences and then relays what they experience first hand. han's lyrics feel like the narration of a movie rather than the actual action of it; there's this certain detachment to feelings/situation that's present. although his lyrics usually talk about inner experiences/feelings, at the same time they're not necessarily emotional in a dramatic sense (which expressing emotions naturally IS dramatic because it's emotions, something not governed by any sort of rationality, right) but no matter the intensity of emotion, he doesn't get caught up in it and simply narrates what's happening to the subject of the lyrics.

compared to changbin's lyrics, for example, where he more so uses dramatical expressions to convey the intensity of his feeling states. changbin speaks feelings through feelings straightforwardly like "i am sorry for liking you, i'm sorry if that's a sin", han speaks feelings through ideas, images and tries to describe the feeling accurately as in "snow is falling, erasing everything that's left in me, i loved you, snow is falling and we are falling apart".. changbin writes like he's the main character and he's speaking about what he feels and thinks yet han's writing is a narration of what the main character of his story does/feels, as if recording everything and almost like it doesn't have a say or any power to decide what happens to the person of the lyrics although it's their own feelings we're talking about here.

in ex where the lyrics go "i'd like it even if you cursed at me" and "curse me to your will" - the way i see it, han could never write a sentence like that, you see. because of how directly dramatic and directly emotionally-charged it is compared to his more detached description-like style of writing, where the lyrics are no less emotional but the emotion you get from them is second-hand, not direct, the feeling comes at you when you parse the image hanji's expressing through the lyrics first.

han's writing is fairytale-like (pun intented..?) and each of his songs draws you into a story, into a whole other world, make you a silent observer of a situation as if you were there.. even if you didn't ever experience the feeling that's being conveyed through the lyrics, han writes them using allegories and such particular imagery that even without experiencing the feelings yourself you can very well relate to it.

am i the only one who feels this way?? every single of his songs is so special to me, i just kept thinking why they are like that to me.

[omgkalyppso]

Are there any particular elaborate character/oc playlists you’d like to share?? Or just a song or two?? Always love character playlists 🫣

So I follow some people who have elaborate character playlists in that they're like 100 songs long. Most of mine are not that, but I don't know that I'd consider mine "not elaborate" still, you know?

Most of my playlists are for canon characters, but I do have oc playlists also.

Anyway, since the spirit of the post / ask is to be able to ramble about a playlist, I'll pick a shorter one (not the shortest even but you know).

For my Shez OC - the main character from Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes. His name is Avery (he/they).

The game sets up the character as lacking a sense of self-preservation. Like the main character from the previous game, he has a spirit of something inside of him, speaking to him, saving him, guiding him. They complain about Avery jumping off a cliff more than once as if it would make them stronger.

The first song on the playlist is Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was, because there's a lot of implication that the reason this character might not have been in the original story / timeline in Fire Emblem Three Houses because they did not live to see it, and I like leaning into the tragedy of that.

The second song is Writing's On The Wall, which has lyrics that align with that "there are clear signs that something unpleasant or unwelcome is going to happen." Avery feels something "familiar" with the Agarthans, who were the primary or secondary antagonists in fe3h depending on what route the player took, and Arval, the spirit inside Avery, says things that have a strong ominous tone. Avery is determined not to be the villain, but there's hints that whatever happens is "fate" and "destiny" and beyond his choice.

The third song is The Kiss of Life and it has lyrics which lend to the same moods as the previous two songs, and also pairs well with if you ship the two protagonists of those two games, which I do. Faedolyn, my Byleth OC, would have the ability to use Divine Pulse to turn back the clock to save Avery in most circumstances / canon-adjacent au's, and I like to think that Avery's connections to other characters, whether romantic or platonic are strongly what would drive them to long for the purpose that Fae finds easily (in his opinion) on their own.

The next song is What Feels Like Eternity, and if you've listened this far I like to think that the beat of the music is helping drive you along to stay on board with me. It is about trudging along and also refers to negative events as a bad dream. In the first chapter of few3h, Arval says, "I am a being that exists on the edge of dreams and reality." And the game didn't lean into this or use it well in my opinion, but I have spoken at length to friends about what this could mean for my oc.

Then you have I Am Not a Robot, and in the Golden Wildfire route of few3h, Avery gets to both explore the Bernadetta support chain (which I have my gripes about but that's not for here) where he encourages her to not judge people by their covers, like books; and gets to explore a Claude who is in conflict with himself, and who Avery is concerned would sacrifice him (a mercenary) and others like him as his goals shift and change. Additionally, and much more importantly, it is something to experience but not presented clearly, that Avery's birth parents who died under mysterious circumstances were probably killed by his adoptive mother who was either an Agarthan agent or a runaway Agarthan looking to revive Arval / Epimenides. They were looking to use him as a vessel with the intention of complete personality overhaul, they just needed the body. And I think this song suits characters who are victim to this kind of thing.

Next is Chambers, which has a lot of self-sacrificing styled lyrics as well as lyrics that imply a struggle between the narrator and someone he cares for. This, and also in particular the line "Oh, would you still offer your embrace, If it's another place you'd find me in?" fit well for me the way that Avery would rather die than be in conflict with the people he cares for / has witnessed and decided are innocent or good. In particular, he gives up his "rivalry" with Fae when he sees they would make a better ally than a mountainside for him to clash against. He would not willingly be whatever the Agarthans would make of him.

We're nearing the end! The next song is Oh My Dear Lord. The lyrics are about a burnout who can't deviate from their path. I think Avery doesn't believe in the Goddess on his own momentum, and that the Agarthan adoptive mother he had wouldn't have raised him with any experience in the Church of Seiros. So the lyrics for him would be a cry to the void, to nothing, with language that is pseudo-religious from someone who doesn't know how to be pious. I think he had wild and exciting mercenary days pre-canon, but they didn't exactly leave him prepared for the life he would lead.

Second to last we have Goodbye, which I discovered from the show DARK (never finished the second season). The terror of being "just a bad dream" meant for Arval to wake up from, and the inability to properly interact with the world around him (Avery) is why this song is on the list.

Finally, I added Me and the Devil after seeing this fanvid of being victim to or ally of or the seduced of a number of popular villains, which is also there for the betrayal I would have loved to see / experience between Avery and Arval, though I wouldn't have been disappointed by their tragic friendship with Epimenides being "the true villain" if Epimenides had been explored earlier in the story and a stronger character overall.

[kareenvorbarra]

i can only think about you (Laela/Samira)

here it is...my Laela/Samira playlist

it's a lot of sappy gay pop songs about the frustration of seemingly unrequited love, or about not being able to tell how someone else feels about you, or just about being hopelessly obsessed with your crush. these are not in any particular order, so you can listen to them in the order they're listed or just hit shuffle. extremely self-indulgent notes about each song below the cut:

Wanna Be Missed - Hayley Kiyoko

I wanna be held, fragile like glass Cause I've never felt nothing like that

This is a classic pining song, so ofc it's about Samira. having unbearably intense feelings for someone and desperately wanting them to be reciprocated! the lyrics above also make me think of Samira's particular situation. She wants a kind of physical and emotional relationship that she's never had before - with someone who sees her as a person and cares what she wants.

2. Prophet - King Princess

I can only think about you And what it's like to walk around you And why they like to talk about you Cause I can only think about you

Samira's POV again. I picked this song mostly on the strength of the chorus and the general vibes, but I do think the lines about other people wanting to use subject of the song for their own gain vs. the narrator just wanting her (Like it's gold, you're a prophet/Someone's gonna profit/Don't you know, I just want it) fit Laela and Samira's situation pretty well.

3. Love They Say - Tegan and Sara

Love, they say it heals all wounds, Love removes the hurt in you, Love, I know that this is true.

This is the only song (so far) that has made it onto both the L/S playlist and the K/M playlist. I first listened to it at a time when I was thinking about all these characters a lot. the hope and conviction of the lyrics juxtaposted with the characters' actual situations really got me. For Samira at this point in her life, I think it's more that she wants to believe this than that she actually does.

4. Delilah - Florence + the Machine

Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine But maybe not tonight It's a different kind of danger And the bells are ringing out And I'm calling for my mother As I pull the pillars down

This one is a Laela POV song, so it doesn't deal head-on with her feelings about Samira, and is preoccupied with lots of other things as well. It mostly makes me think of her many, many worries during Thick as Thieves; the choices she makes that disrupt her own life and the lives of the people she cares about, her hope that things will get better, her fear that it will all fall apart.

5. Chance - Hayley Kiyoko

Does she feel the energy the way that I do In the air whenever we get in the same room? Cause I don't know how to read her mind And I don't wanna cross a line

More Samira, of course. This song reminds me of how she's feeling as of chapter 10 - afraid that her time in the household is coming to an end, and that it's too late for her to admit anything to Laela. If I ever take a stab at arranging these songs in chronological order based on the events of the fic, it'll probably end up much later in the playlist.

6. 1950 - King Princess

I hate it when dudes try to chase me But I love it when you try to save me Cause I'm just a lady

Putting all these songs in order makes this whole thing feel very predictable! Anyway this makes me think of Samira again, but it's more her imagining the relationship she and Laela might have than the one they actually have at the moment. Also, having to deal with unwanted male attention while constantly thinking about a specific woman who you can't pursue openly is a very Samira mood.

7. Ela - Andromache

You could be my only one

This song is in English and Greek, and the English verses are okay but the lyrics I like best are in the chorus, which is mostly in Greek (translation here). The mood is, again, Samira fantasizing about what it might be like if she could actually be in a relationship with the person she loves.

8. Solid - MUNA

She is not a screen on which you project She is not a scene on your movie set She is not a mirror in which you reflect Yeah, she is of material substance

If I'm being honest, a lot of the songs on here are just songs I got really into during the long process of planning and writing What We Are Allowed, and this is one of them. Not that it doesn't apply to them! But the lyrics are a little less spot-on than some of the other songs. I think Samira and Laela both admire each other a lot for their competence in their respective roles, and for their strength of character in general. The first verse in particular feels like a dig against those people (like Nahuseresh) who view Laela and Samira as purely decorative or useful rather than actual people.

9. Mudbira - A-WA

This song is in Arabic (translation into English here). It seems to me like it's about a young woman who feels trapped, like her luck has run out and she isn't sure where her life is going, which feels appropriate for Samira. In the chorus, other women talk to the protagonist of the song, acknowledging her problems and inviting her to join them, which also feels right.

10. Ease My Mind - Hayley Kiyoko

Haunt me to my grave Don't you ever fade away Seeing every delusion I dont want to face You keep me up You keep me up at night

Samira is pining, folks. I just really like this song, especially the line Girl, ease my mind. When I first heard this song, I was still in a long-term LDR and the idea that my mind could be eased by the presence of a specific person (a specific girl) really resonated with me. I think it works for Samira's situation, too.

11. Silk Chiffon - MUNA ft. Phoebe Bridgers

Watch her silk dress dancing in the wind Watch it brush against her skin Makes me wanna try her on

Most of the references in this song are pretty modern, and it definitely feels more like Samira's fantasy than anything these characters have actually experienced, but it also makes me think of post-canon Samira and Laela, once they're actually free to live their own lives. The fabric imagery also feels like it fits them.

12. Without You - Oh Wonder

And I'm digging down holes without you Can't be on my own without you I'm a little bit lost without you

Samira again. On its face I think this song is pretty straightforwardly about missing someone, but in this context it's more about her being afraid of losing Laela, who she has known and relied on for her entire adult life.

13. La novia entre flores - Renaissance Players

Lyrics and translation here (it's not an exact match to the version on the playlist, but all of the lines are there, even if they're not in the same order). This one is basically just vibes - it's about a bride, there are two women singing together at the beginning, and the whole thing is sort of wistful.

14. Mary - Agnes Obel

In the dark I hear you sing Fingers move and chords they ring Be the witness of my shame

Agnes Obel's lyrics are never very straightforward, but the whole song feels right for them, I guess. The lyrics above in particular remind me of Laela and Samira's scenes in chapter 10.

15. Steady - The Staves

Steady, steady, steady Your steady touch I love so much I'm sleepless Oh God, oh God, oh God God, I'm only human and I'm helpless

Another Samira song, about wanting someone so badly that you're afraid of the intensity of your own feelings.

16. Las casas de la boda - Aman Aman

A song about brides and weddings and houses (lyrics and translation here). You've read chapter 10, so you know why I have emotions about it re: these characters. Of course, there are a lot of Sephardic songs about brides and weddings, and this one in particular I picked because it talks about multiple brides and other women dancing.

17. Which Witch - Florence + the Machine

And it's my whole heart Weighed and measured inside And it's an old scar Trying to bleach it out

Another Laela song! Like the last one, this is about lots of things other than Samira, because Laela has too many things on her mind and is too afraid to let herself feel much of anything besides fear. Some of the lines speak to her fear of what will happen if she's caught (who's a heretic now?), others to her fear for Kamet (I'm miles away/he's on my mind), and others to her desperate hope that the plan will succeed in the end (I'm not beaten by this yet/you can't tell me to regret).

18. Lamma Bada Yatathana - Lena Chamamyan

Lyrics and translation here. This song is in Arabic; the lyrics, at least, are from medieval Al-Andalus, but I haven't been able to find out for sure if the tune is contemporary or not. I'm also not sure whether the narrator of the song is describing a man or a woman - different translations use different pronouns, and I don't know enough about Arabic to have any idea why. But if the narrator is talking about a woman, then it's a female singer praising the grace and beauty of another woman, which is perfect for Laela and Samira. I'm definitely imagining Samira singing this for an audience and only thinking about Laela.

19. I Go Crazy - Orla Gartland

Oh won't somebody hold me and tell me it'll all work out Say that there's nothing to worry about now Cause I'm so sick of the drama and I hate to shout But you drag it out of me

This entire song is VERY "Samira as of chapter 10": freaking out because you have no idea if the person you're in love with returns your feelings. The lines quoted above make me think of the scene where Laela tries to comfort Samira but botches things by saying that nothing bad will happen, which seems inane and insulting to Samira because she knows better. Part of Samira does want someone to tell her that everything's going to be fine, but she's too pragmatic to actually believe it, and she hates the thought of Laela treating her like a child who might be mollified by a comforting lie.

20. Anything 4 U - Banks

I say you shouldn't do something I wouldn't do The problem is I'd do just anything for you Don't tell me I can't choose, cause every time it's you The problem is I'd do just anything for you

Samira again...a combo of trying to figure out how Laela feels about her, wondering what's really bothering Laela, and wishing she could do something to help. Laela, of course, is not telling; I think she knows deep down that Samira would do anything for her, and that's one of the reasons she's keeping her at arm's length.

21. Doghtar-e-boyerahmadi - Minoo Javan

A traditional Persian song where the narrator is talking about their feelings for a woman, sung by a woman (folk music in general is great for these). The first version of this song I listened to is actually a video of a live performance, which has an English translation in the subtitles (available here). I would have put that version on the mix, but as far as I can tell the YouTube video is the only recording, so I found a different version for my playlist.

22. Going Home - The Aces

Well, you could name a place and time There's nowhere that I wouldn't go As long as it's just you and I It feels like I'm going home

Another song that could be Samira fantasizing about the life she wants to have with Laela, as well as some foreshadowing about where they might end up :) The lyrics about seeing another person at their worst and helping them through it also fit really well, because even though Laela and Samira haven't been able to talk openly about their feelings or be completely honest with each other, they both have to spend so much time pretending that it feels good to let their guard down at all, even if they aren't communicating perfectly.

23. Play Along - flor

We used to run as if it mattered We used to get lost, play along, play along I wanna run to break the pattern Are you missing getting lost? Play along, play along

This song is also basically a fantasy about being free, through the lens of nostalgia. Even though Samira was from a poor family and Laela was born into slavery, they both look back on their their early childhoods with fondness, when things were (comparatively) simple and the adults in their lives were able to shelter them somewhat from the worst aspects of the world. Maybe a little bit of a stretch thematically, but I like the song!

24. forever - Hayley Kiyoko

I am always willing if you're ready for it Cold like the ocean breeze, healed all your broken pieces Saw you and I knew what I was headed for Loved you since seventeen and our love is all we need

Mostly this is just a cute f/f pop song, which would be enough honestly! The lines that made me put it on this playlist were Take me back to skipping classes/Second chances, I just wanna be close to you and Loved you since seventeen, because they remind me of the fact that Samira's crush on Laela did originate when Samira was a teenager and Laela was one of the cool older girls, but then Laela became Samira's sort-of-boss which made things significantly more complicated.

25. Mantissa - Marina Satti

A Greek pop song that an acquaintance sent me like eight months ago, and I'm still completely obsessed with it. Basically, the lyrics (translation here) are about someone vowing to do impossible things to be with the person they love, which is pretty much exactly how Samira is feeling (even if she finds herself unable to actually act on those feelings).

[project-sekai-facts]

In the last year, there has been even stronger evidence for this claim, at least from Minori's side. To start with the image above, Minori and Haruka were both put into class 2-D for their second year, since they're both taking the credit course at Miyajo. Minori's untrained Her Back That Makes Me Curious 4* shows that she sits behind Haruka, and initially struggles to focus on her lessons.

First off, here's some older hints/moments that I missed from the original post:

In chapter 3 of Let's Deliver! HOPEFUL STAGE ♪, Nanamin says to Minori that she's heard a lot about her through Haruka. Later on, in chapter 5 of Scramble Fan FESTA!, An says the same thing, telling us that Haruka talks about Minori a lot.

There's also this artwork from Colorful Palette's sketch tag on Twitter, showing Minori and Haruka in their outfits from the Welcome to the Penguin Cafe♪ set. Minori is staring at Haruka with hearts in her eyes and around her, a callback to Minori's untrained Passionate Call 4* from the same set.

Minori and Haruka also received a duet Another Vocal for Kokoro Yohou, a song in which the narrator sings about building up the courage to confess to their crush.

And in the first chapter of Cast Spell On You, MORE MORE JUMP! does a contest on their stream seeing who can pick the best outfit for Haruka. Minori wins again having won in a previous stream, and Shizuku says that this must be because Minori understands Haruka so well. Minori then states that she actually just chooses the clothes she wants to see Haruka wear. In chapter 8 of the event, she explains that the angel theming of her costume design (seen in the post above) was because she wanted Haruka to look like an angel.

Now for more recent content:

(TL by Puroeng on YT)

In chapter 6 of Over Here! Over There! Zookeeper Experience!, Minori spots Haruka from across the zoo, and recognises her because of her "sleek style and beautiful posture".

At the end of the Akuyaku ni Kiss Scene wo 3DMV, Minori and Haruka turn towards each other and move slightly closer. Whilst not hugely significant on its own, it's worth noting that in the original MV for the song, this is where Miku's character kisses the love interest.

The official Valentine's Day artwork for 2024 featured Minori and Haruka alongside Miku. Whilst Miku and Haruka are holding chocolates out towards the viewer, Minori is trying to give her chocolates to Haruka.

(TL by Project SEKAI ENG on Twitter)

Once again, they had connected voicelines for Valentine's Day. Minori was getting nervous about wanting to give Haruka chocolates, and Haruka noticed Minori staring at her, but didn't seem to realise why.

(TL by touyarn on YT)

When MORE MORE JUMP! is house hunting in chapter 1 of the The Scars Left Behind With Time event, Minori starts to imagine an incredibly domestic life with Haruka, involving the other girl cooking her dinner and drying her hair for her after a bath. Notably, the True Love Song OST plays during this imagine spot.

(TL by puroeng on YT)

In the Relax Teatime event, Minori says that when she was in middle school, she would send gifts to Haruka.

In the voice drama accompanying the February Broadcast Station episode, Rui talks about making Hinamatsuri dolls voiced by the members of MORE MORE JUMP!, and Minori immediately gets excited by the concept of a doll talking with Haruka's voice. Rui tells her she can call him for help anytime.

(TL by Project SEKAI ENG on twt)

In her 2024 Hinamatsuri line, Minori thinks to herself that Haruka would look pretty in a ceremonial kimono.

(TLs from this point onwards by Puroeng on YT)

And finally, despite Haruka not actually appearing as a main or supporting character in Minori's Wedding Live ♡ With Everyone! event, she manages to make a cameo through an imagine spot of Minori's.

At the bridal festival, there are several booths set up to advertise different wedding venues, including one based on a train. Minori fantasises about the train setting off to the "paradise of love", and about the bride disembarking from the train when it pulls into the station. The bride in question? Haruka. The True Love Song track plays again during this scene.

Additionally, Minori was livestreaming the entire thing, but all her fans have to say is that it was typical behaviour of her.

Since the start of the game, it has been heavily implied, if not outright stated, that Minori has a crush on Haruka. To a lesser degree, it has been implied that Haruka has feelings for Minori.

In chapter 17 of MORE MORE JUMP!'s main story, when Minori performs a show to give Haruka the hope she needs to perform as an idol again, she tells Haruka that the first time she received fanservice from her was the first time she ever felt the happiness of falling in love with someone (altered in official translation).

In Minori's self-introduction, she flubs a line towards the end, but Haruka insists that they keep it in because "it's so Minori". Meanwhile, in Haruka's self-introduction, Minori thanks Haruka's parents for bringing her into the world and allowing them to meet. Haruka then says that she should be the one thanking Minori's parents, for letting her meet someone like Minori, causing Minori to become extremely flustered. Minori thanking Haruka's parents for giving birth to her is also referenced in 4koma #6 and her menu voiceline for Haruka's birthday in 2021.

In the side story for Miku's Stage SEKAI 2* card, she blows a kiss to Minori during a show. Minori then imagines Haruka blowing her a kiss, causing her to blush and think that she was about to have a heart attack.

In her 2021 Valentine's menu voiceline, Minori became extremely flustered over finally having the opportunity to give Haruka chocolate. Haruka comments that Minori getting all red in the face will make her embarrassed too. Even Airi comments on Minori's bold decision to give Haruka chocolates.

In their White Day menu voicelines from that year, it was revealed that Haruka gave Minori a return gift. Minori says that she will treasure it forever.

There are multiple instances of Haruka looking fondly at Minori. Perhaps the most notable is both her untrained and trained You Deserve It 4* card.

Minori passed out when Haruka wished her a happy birthday in 4koma #41. Haruka insisted on performing the birthday show for Minori even though Airi had warned her about what would happen.

In Airi's Unyielding Indomitable Spirit 4* story, it is revealed that while Airi and Shizuku went to the picnic with Ena and Mizuki, Minori and Haruka went to Phoenix Wonderland together. Their trip is shown in Luka's Fairy Lantern ♪ 2* story.

Minori's Passionate Call untrained 4* card speaks for itself, being the first time she was depicted with 'heart-eyes' around Haruka. This card is from Haruka's first event, Break Time for the Hardworking You!, which featured the commissioned song Ai no Material, which is explicitly a love song. While Haruka and Shizuku took the duo centre of the song, Minori was the only character to receive an Another Vocal for it.

The future that you were gazing at, I don't know if I can take you there. I hope I can support you, and keep walking with you.

In Haruka's Someday, I'll Deliver Colorful Festival 4* story, it is mentioned that MORE MORE JUMP! played a game called "No Blushing - Smiling Staring Contest!" on their stream that day. Minori lost the game because she couldn't keep a straight face whilst looking at Haruka. Minori later adds that Haruka's smile has the power to "make anyone's heart race".

Haruka's fragment SEKAI is born from her reminiscing about the idol that inspired her and was able to make her smile when she was younger, and wishing she had the chance to meet this person. Haruka thinks she spots her idol in amongst a crowd, and proceeds to chase her throughout the SEKAI. Although she keeps losing track of her idol, she is determined to tell her about how she inspired her. While thinking to herself, Haruka remembers Minori telling her how she was her inspiration to become an idol. She continues to think to herself, remembering how she was genuinely happy when she met Minori and was able to get on stage again because Minori gave her hope. This makes her more determined to find her idol and tell her how much she was inspired by her.

When she runs into a dead end again, she finds a dove with a clover in it's beak. It gives her the clover and then leads her to a house filled with more doves. While it is dark inside, she thinks that she recognises the room. She feels compelled to open the windows and let all the birds fly free out of the darkness, just as her idol did for her. She then notices that all the birds have clovers in their beaks that they want to deliver to other people as they did with her, and she frees them. Haruka's idol then appears behind her and talks to her. Haruka recognises her voice and tries to talk to her, but the SEKAI disappears before she gets the chance.

It is heavily implied that the idol that Haruka was chasing around the Fragment SEKAI was Minori. From her remembering Minori's message of hope while she was trying to find her childhood idol, to wanting to tell her childhood idol about this event, to the doves that were carrying clovers (MORE MORE JUMP!'s symbol that will bring hope to their fans, that was Minori's idea). Not to mention the fact that the dove gave Haruka a clover and led her straight to where her idol was. The woman who appears in the SEKAI even looks like Minori with longer hair.

However, it could be argued that Haruka's childhood idol just heavily resembles Minori, seeing as Haruka recognises the voice as nostalgic and identifies the woman as her childhood idol instead of Minori (it was in a crowd though). However, after returning from the fragment SEKAI, Haruka only refers to the mystery woman as "her", adding to the ambiguous identity.

Minori and Airi covered the song Ren'ai Saiban, a song about someone who is trying to win back their lover after an unspecified incident. The 2DMV for the cover plays up the "winning back the lover" aspect, since at the end, after Minori and Airi free themselves from their handcuffs, they free Haruka and Shizuku as well. Miku seems to approve of this ending despite trying to sentence them for the first three and a half minutes of the MV.

In Buddy Funny Spend Time ♪, the two go on a "double date" with An and Kohane. While ultimately it is treated as platonic and Minori and Haruka are not considered to be in a relationship outside of or even in the event, An at the very least does seem to consider her half of the date as romantic (Peak Excitement 3* story), with said interpretation being supported in later stories (such as Kick it up a notch).

Still on the topic of BFST, in chapter 1 of the story, An says that Minori really likes Haruka, and that Haruka feels the same way. Later on in the event, Minori relates to how flustered Kohane is around Haruka, saying that Haruka is really cool and cute, and her heart raced when Haruka first called her by her first name. She also relates to Kohane's jealously over An and Haruka's close friendship later on in the story.

At one point during their outing, the four girls go shopping for street style clothes. Minori doesn't think she fits the look, until Haruka tells her that she suits the clothes and she decides that she will keep them forever. The event 4koma also shows that Minori is very attracted to Haruka's street style look.

At the end of the event, Minori confesses to Haruka that she doesn't know much about the real, non-idol Haruka, and that she had been trying to get closer to Haruka during the event by trying to please her (such as going on a rollercoaster when she didn't want to). Haruka tells Minori that she likes her just the way she is, and that she doesn't need to force herself to do things she doesn't like.

Haruka's trained A Street Style Idol!? 4* card from this event can be seen at the top of this post, depicting Minori and Haruka with their arms linked.

In 4koma #92, Kohane tries to understand the emotions that An an Akito felt while watching RAD WEEKEND, although she can't get a clear image since neither of the two can express it in words. Minori chimes in and explains that she understands not being able to put feelings into words, describing "emotions swirling inside of her" while she thinks of Haruka. Shiho remarks that what Minori is feeling is not the same as what An and Akito felt at RW.

Minori's Enthusiastic Talk! untrained 4* card depicts her holding a drawing she did of a costume for Haruka. The drawing is surrounded by pink hearts and one of the annotations reads "cute!".

Minori's 2022 White Day menu voiceline reveals that Haruka gave her chocolate for the holiday, causing Minori to get extremely flustered yet again.

In a flashback during the Dear Me, As I Was Back Then event, we see Minori attend an ASRUN concert, during which she shouted out her love for Haruka. In Minori's untrained Beyond the Spotlight 4* card from this event, you can see Haruka watching her in the background.

In Scream!? Welcome to the Wolf Forest!, Minori is comically blinded by Haruka's cat cafe costume. She says that she can't look at Haruka because the cat ears suit her so well, but at the same time she really wants to look, and feels like her head is going to get torn off.

A similar instance of Haruka's presence 'blinding' Minori was shown in 4koma #61.

Minori's 2023 Valentine's Day menu voiceline reveals that Haruka gave her Valentine's chocolates, rather than the other way around. Although Minori wants to eat it, she isn't sure if she wants to sacrifice the gift.

For that White Day, Minori gave Haruka three times the amount of gifts that Haruka gave her for Valentine's Day as her return gift. Haruka suggests that they eat the sweets together, since she won't be able to manage them by herself.

During MORE MORE JUMP!'s 1st live, during one MC game, Haruka tells Minori that she loves her, causing the latter to nearly faint.

Haruka: Thank you. I love you, Minori Airi: Woaaah! Knock out! Shizuku: That's amazing, Haruka-chan

The second set of birthday cards show the gifts that each character was given by the other members of their unit. In Haruka's card, you can see a handwritten letter, with an opening line that reads "I lo-lo-lo-looove you, Haruka-chan". Minori's card features a letter from Haruka in return, as well as some ASRUN photographs.

In Haruka's card, you can see that Minori also gifted her a T-shirt that matches the otter one that she wears for training, only this one has a penguin, Haruka's favorite animal, on it as well. In 4koma #15, Minori picked out a similar shirt for Haruka, featuring only the penguin.

Minori also keeps a collection of Haruka merchandise in her room.

[theheightofdishonor]

so jotting a couple more thoughts now that i've ruminated on the episode for a second

the pace felt jarring in a way it hadn't previously and i don't appreciate it

i want the internal narration back, Like how is tinn feeling about his own newfound confidence, gun's thoughts in general etc. I want to knoww

speaking of gun, what is up with him in this episode. The whole plot with his mom was really sweet and heartwarming but other than that, my boy feels so off. like, gun's threshold for embarrassment is usually really high but then he gets embarrassed by shouting in the park. seriously??? that's what finally triggers his sense of embarrassment? also i don't understand this weird game of chicken he's playing with tinn where he ends up backing down every time they're at the edge of a confession. like he was downright cryptic at the end of the episode when tinn pretty much admitted to liking him. he's always been so straightforward but i can't read him this episode and it's bugging me

i read that apparently tiw and por are supposed to be in an established secret relationship but i think the show's instead going to show how they get into a relationship.

winsound are cute and precious and i want 100% more of them

the figuring-out-your-future plot was good, no remarks

i did however want to see the entire scene with the rap battle play out (painful as the bits we got were)

i hope it comes back in a flashback

same with por talking to his mom

the payout's just not as good if it happens during a montage alright

the pacing of win's plot felt really odd to me and i still can't explain why

mark at it again with the bad buddy references "my parents wanted me to go for engineering" lmaooo

how did tinn get away with ditching class to check up on gun?

if the pool location's important enough to require an introductory scene for it, then use the fucking pool for something. chekov's gun is a thing for a reason. gun's literally right there running around with a laptop in front of it and it/he's not gonna fall in? what a waste. similarly, i hope the sports day timetable that tinn approved comes back in a later episode. (yes yes not everything needs to mean something but preferably, it would and i have expectations for this show)

so much happened this episode and i want flashbacks to all the inbetween scenes like what happened after tinngun's hug etc next ep

which reminds me, we still haven't gotten gun's pov on the events of episodes 3/4. i want gun's povvvv

love that the show's continuing to have atleast one performance/song per ep though

EDIT: grammar

[veliseraptor]

yi city time travel aus you say? How do we make the rest of this form in your head? Ask questions about how that goes for everyone else from canon that might show up later is XY could keep his shit together long enough to pull this off? 🍿 👀

my problem with yi city time travel aus thus far has kind of been a combination of (a) deciding which one of the, like, six I've considered I'd want to go with actually trying to write and (b) the difficulty personally of living up to one of my personal favorite yi city fics which happens to be a time travel/time loop au (warning: big ouch). so like. it's less that I don't have thoughts about what I'd do so much as that I have too many thoughts.

well that and the 5 million existing wips I'm constantly struggling to finish, that too, because if I wrote this odds are it'd end up getting long.

one of my favorite things about a yi city time travel au specifically is that...okay, so, one of the functions of a time travel au in fandom generally is that it gives a character the opportunity to Fix Things, right? or at least to try. and generally speaking the character who is trying to Fix Things is probably somewhat involved in the main plot of the thing/invested in a main plot point (or plot points) that they'd like to see go differently.

and I've talked about before how specifically with Xue Yang it's very entertaining to me that that's not at all the case, that Xue Yang could not give less of a fuck about everything else going on around him as long as he gets what he wants. all these large scale injustices and tragedies happening and Xue Yang's here like "yeah yeah massacres and injustices and tragic deaths of important people okay but fuck that I'm just here to make sure I get mine and by that I mean get my Daozhang alive and not hating me." and sure! there are adjacent things that he will do to achieve that goal, incidental benefits that may accrue for other people (reconsidering, for instance, what to do about the Song Lan problem, maybe he doesn't actually need to kill his whole temple), but they're, you know, incidental. collateral damage, as it were! or lack of damage, if you're lucky.

there's something I just kind of love about how deeply Xue Yang doesn't care about all the other stuff that's going on. he's so endearingly myopic about it. he has his interests and that's what matters. I feel like if I wrote this one of the functions of it would be that I would, like...barely allude to canon events happening vaguely in the background, in a way where they were still happening, but maybe differently, but the narrator (Xue Yang, in this case) isn't really paying attention.

(it would have some of the same comedic value to me personally as every time I mention Xue Yang's fond memories of killing Nie Mingjue as, for him, just kind of a fun thing that happened one time. nice memory! moving right along. meanwhile for everyone else Nie Mingjue's death is a major catalyzing event and a very sad thing for a lot of people. one of my personal favorite jokes in if living can be this verse is specifically when Xue Yang is trying to figure out who he might've killed that Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian would be upset about and legitimately taking a minute to remember.)

anyway! I actually do think that Xue Yang could...potentially keep it together long enough to pull something off, anyway, if only because when Xue Yang has a project he will go a long, long ways to make it work. when Xue Yang wants something he is a persistence predator about it, for sure. he will follow that idea for hundreds of miles until it drops dead of exhaustion.

and if he has the means to time travel more than once to make multiple attempts at getting it right? god help you, now he gets to experiment.

[saint-starflicker]

Bare: a Pop Opera is a 1999 stage musical about gay boys at Catholic boarding school, and the sequence of events that spirals into tragedy as they try to stay closeted and be true to themselves—and disagree with each other about how to navigate that in their relationship conduct, with each other, with their families, with their friends, with their plans for the future (reminder: it's 1999, so the future for gay boys was not exactly looking bright,) and with consideration for their personal faith (reminder: this is set at a Catholic school.)

You should not listen to this show if you are sex-repulsed, because that these are allo gays at a school full of allo heteros is underscored from the second song onwards, and also becomes a major plot point.

If you can still listen to the show forewarned of this, then I personally really like the relationship dynamic and themes. Peter is positioned as the narrator, and Jason makes most audiences go "wtf boy help why don't do that don't be like that" probably because Peter doesn't understand—but given the context of their story, everything Jason does in this show makes sense even though it's not good for him and others.

Every character here is shaped by this oppressive environment and behaves accordingly, at the same time they're not flattened out. I think the character of Ivy Robinson would be delegated to "demonized girl character who threatens the fan-favorite queer guy couple" and audiences in a run of the show in 2004 did treat her that way...but she's not written that way. The designated Shakespearean Villain type character in the vein of King Lear's Edmund or Othello's Iago...is sympathetic even though what he does is very harmful and wrong. The school bully is a girl and plus-size and obviously cares a lot about her twin brother Jason even as she envies his accomplishments, the now-deceased composer was said to have related to her the most; even the backing chorus characters get to have names.

I think the music is beautiful and it sounds like how feelings feel (although I don't love 1980's glam rock and disco that are heavy stylistic influences), there's a deft metafictional parallel as they rehearse for the school play which is Romeo and Juliet, there are so many other dimensions to this story—and basically this has been my brain rot since the 2020 lockdowns because it stomps all over all my personal issues about religion and queerness.

hey @theabyssgazesalsointoyou and @lohstandfound (and anyone else who loves it) what's bare: a pop opera and should i listen to it

[septembersghost]

Since you are having a harry day, I love how harry's song doesn't give you much tea. Like if we listen to Taylor's songs we know which one's about joe,harry,Jake etc....like she uses different imagery for each. She used red colour for jake to symbolize how painful and passionate it was, fire imagery for harry because it was easily extinguishabld but have potential to burn brightly, golden for joe because his heart is gold and it is good,beautiful, valuable all at the same time.She also narrates well. But harry simply confesses his thoughts and feelings as a song without having a backing narrative. So it means different things to different people. This is why he doesn't explain songs. As a private person it allows him to be vulnerable without people using it as a double edged sword (like Taylor). So we live in a world where grape juice is about olivia or ex or something else theories can coexist because it is vague on purpose. We enjoy the song for what it means for us, not what happened in his life or who it's about.

i get where you're coming from, i have a lot of complicated thoughts about this! for me personally: We enjoy the song for what it means for us this remains true for me for every artist i love and connect to, whether i know the specific details or not, but i understand that varies from listener to listener.

with taylor, her strength is in such strongly personal writing - whether it's diaristic, as a lot is, or more loosely autobiographical but with some fantasy sprinkled in (ie: folkmore) - she is beautifully adept and giving details to paint a picture, being self-referential, leaning on specific metaphors and imagery to conjure specific situations. and for those of us who've been here for a long time, there's a richness in that because we can piece the stories together, understand exactly what she's talking about, and click in to each emotional facet, each story, as they transform and as they're a part of her. the magic of it is then when we take those songs, knowing what/who they're about, and transform them into our own. since i'm a documented red stan, i'll use that as an example - my mind, of course, knows those songs are centered on jake, and can analyze them from that perspective and empathize with what she's detailing, how that relationship made her feel, why it affected her deeply. but then the songs also have that other life in my brain, where they're mine, and subjectively emotional about my own memories, or my own associations to apply to them. same, with, say, my love for lover. i have never been in love like that, i've never had a longtime partner, so technically i have no real way to relate to the full depth of love she feels for joe and the golden daylight of that, and YET, it still totally resonates because i'm a romantic, because i love love as a concept, and because it was such a source of warmth and comfort to me in a dark time that it took on its own happiness and meaning. the archer being so dear to me and so relatable when it's all centered inwardly. "help me hold on to you" more being about life itself than a loved one. and i think there's real value in BOTH aspects of her art.

unfortunately, taylor has had constant inescapable media scrutiny, and we have the knowledge of all of these things, so we can pinpoint relationships and inspiration, and it's impossible to talk about her intent without mentioning those relationships and events. idk if it's fair to categorize it as "tea," even though maybe we unavoidably make it that. when it's weaponized against her, that double edged sword as you mention, it's awful because it isn't her fault, and it's like...she should be allowed to speak her truth and process her experiences without shame, and the amount of cruelty and misogyny and trauma she's endured is terribly unfair. the fact that our analyses in relation to her voice and her way of telling these stories relies on that awareness isn't a bad thing, it simply. is.

She used red colour for jake to symbolize how painful and passionate it was, fire imagery for harry because it was easily extinguishabld but have potential to burn brightly, golden for joe because his heart is gold and it is good,beautiful, valuable all at the same time. i just want to say that i love how you phrased all this, and agree.

and then harry to me, his approach is more like stream-of-consciousness or even conversational. and he's fortunate that he has been able to keep some things more private, by far the songs dissected most are the one we know are connected to taylor, so is that really an effect from him, or from her? it's a conundrum, and we all navigate a balance in that however we can.

he does use illustrative details - the fridge light washes this room white, there's no water inside this swimming pool, does he take you walking 'round his parents' gallery, the coffee's out at the beachwood cafe, kiss in the kitchen like it's a dance floor, you sunshine/you temptress/my hand's at risk, i fold/crisp trepidation/i'll try to shake this soon, you sit high atop the kitchen counter, you're trying to lift off the ground on those old two wheels, you showed me a power that's strong enough to bring sun to the darkest days - but he's also a bit more abstract. i don't know if this comparison will make sense, but i think of taylor as a pre-raphaelite painter, and harry as an impressionist. both have distinct beauty, but capture the picture differently.

like this

both are women in gardens with roses, both are beautiful, but the way they depict the scenes has a different effect. the brush strokes, the details, they evoke their own atmosphere. the distinction makes them their own special artists, and i love being able to discuss that, and am grateful to have/keep both.

[wheelercore]

First off:

Context of this creel theory are in these posts: x x x

UMMMMM Alice in Henry's version of events directly mentions the word "dream":

Nah bc it's me vs Henry right now and I'm ready to throw hands for the truth.

As she speaks they literally pan over a YELLOW stained window in the background. "Dream" as in Dream A Little Dream (Victor's song, again, about a person who hopes that their lover is thinking of them when they're gone), being associated with a "fairy tale"- with the yellow lighting being associated with dishonesty.

Alice being the one to say this, of course she's being genuine, but as a watcher you know that it's the exact opposite. The usage of words like "dream" and "fairytale" with double meanings: on the surface it's obviously just unbelievably good circumstance but when you go deeper you realize that it's being used here as synonyms with delusion. Why Alice? Why is Alice being chosen as the representation of the dishonesty (again, the yellow lighting and her solid yellow outfit later on) and the (Victor's) delusion?

This isn't the first time theyve used colored lighting to portray subtext, they did the same thing with Victor, the red lighting, and burning baby or the soft reddish yellow lighting when Henry is about to start his murder spree

I think it fairly interesting because we're playing with a lot of perspectives here. We got two recounting of the same event, Victor with his rose tinted glasses on and Henry leaving out crucial details. When it comes to the portrayal of Alice's age, I think there might be some shenanigans going on.

Now look, can the duffers do math? No. Are they consistent? Also no. But 15-14=1 isn't hard and it wouldn't be difficult for them to realize "oh shit we had Victor say he came back from the war 14 years ago but yet we have Alice down on this prop as 15 years old". But yet they deliberately included these details alongside portraying Alice with a much younger actress. Think of s1 Nancy (16) with s1 Mike (12). Now compare that to Alice (15) and Henry (12):

There is a huge difference there. Alice is clearly not meant to be portrayed as 15. Either it's extremely negligent casting or it's intentional.

Now we could wonder why the writers chose to do this, or we could be a little bit less meta and ask: why does the visual representation of Alice look considerably younger than her actual age in Victor and Henry's retelling? We know Henry may be leaving crucial details out about his family (namely Virginia and Alice) and we know for sure that Victor isn't a reliable narrator at all and will straight up imagine things that didn't happen if it meant that his family looked more "perfect" than it was. Edit: fixed some inaccuracies

Well, the thing is, if Alice had been just a year younger she would have been born after Victor came back from the war. 2 years and she would have been conceived and born after he came back. Yeah it's a bit insane, but get what I'm getting at here? It could just be an illusion. Alice looks younger because that's how Victor from his jail cell could deal with the fact that Alice might not have been his, especially after believing for decades his whole family is dead.

Mind you, Victor made himself even more blind. Literally. That's a thing he did. He wanted to be "with his family", but his "family" was never more than playing pretend. Victor will delude himself, as we see repeatedly with the inconsistencies from his version of events compared to Henry's, into doubling down on that lie.

Reminder, one of the few actual voiced lines from Henry's retelling is freaking Alice herself saying that it all looks like a fairy tale and a dream (I believe we don't get these lines in Victor's version of events, but I could be wrong please correct me).

But yet Henry directly exposes all of Victor's inconsistencies with the exception of Alice? Why?

He's deliberately lying about Alice by omission. By being vague about the nature of Virginia's wrongdoings and being vague about how he tormented Alice in particular (because Henry wasn't tormenting his family for fun, he was doing it to show them a side of themselves that was imperfect), he's intentionally leaving out what he's learnt about the two of them. In a meta sense, the writers don't want to reveal to us the truth about Virginia, and by extension Alice, until next season for whatever reason.

When thinking about how Henry phrased his radicalization, he saw his parents for who they really were and it was all a terrible lie.

He deliberately leaves out Alice from that statement. Alice hadn't done anything wrong.

But yet he does torment her. For shits and giggles? We've never seen him do anything for no reason. He does leave her a dead rabbit (was it a baby rabbit? Because my god thats even more on the nose) and give her nightmares. But those scenes are never focused on Alice internally unlike Virginia and Victor, in fact they seem to focus more on them having to comfort Alice, the physical representation of the "sin" that Victor thinks their family is being punished for.

@henrycreeltm tagging you because I feel like I'm going insane because of Alicegate or whatever this should be called and I don't want to be alone. I'm in too deep 😭