#anarchist chess

[anarchist-chess]

The Most Popular move was... Be3.

The computer responds... Qe7.

Welcome to Uncharted Chess Waters! No recorded tournament game has ever looked like this before! The one to ultimately break pattern was the computer, as Denizcan Temizkan played Be6 in response to Be3, and not Qe7. This means that thus far we are playing at at LEAST an equivalent level to a 2200 rated player, and possibly much higher.

If you're just joining us by the way, or need a refresher now that we've made our tenth move, welcome to Anarchist Chess. We're playing white against a computer rated 3200, which is a little stronger than the best human players. Every few days, I pop up a position and you, the audience, consider it. You then send your chosen move into my ask box. The most popular choice by the time of the deadline is the move that gets made, and we move on to the next position. Ties are broken by Random dot Org.

The theory is that the average of everyone's moves will be stronger than any individual player suggesting them is. So even if you're not very good at chess, feel free to join in! It will likely improve our chances, no matter how good you are.

The Deadline for this position is June 6th at Midnight Pacific, so be sure to send your moves in before then!

[coolsketchablestuff]

Welcome to my atrocious shipping chart, I apologize in advance

Their opinions on eachother:

Headcanons below:

I've been having a story going on in my mind and it's just progressively evolved over time and this is the culmination of that specifically, so I'll try to explain the context of it here:

MAIN THING HERE IS THAT THE BEASTS (for the most part) "GET ALONG" WITH THEIR OTHER HALF

In my au thingy once they get along both half's get stronger, as if the soul jam becomes more whole (yes the ancients still ascended and reclaimed their soul jams as the rightful owners)

Burning Spice:

Got defeated by golden Cheese Cookie, after she left and he awoke from under the rubble of his castle he went to seek her out, to continue the battle, he wanted to be defeated, to be bested by the only worthy opponent, it was his DESTINY to crumble to her hands, he desired it so much. When he found and re-challenged her, she originally did fight him, but upon seeing how badly he wanted to be destroyed she decided to make him one of her treasures. At first he HATED it and would remind her how he could destroy all of it if he wanted to, but after months of slowly wearing him down he's now her right hand cookie and personal guard, very quick to fight anyone who gets to close to her radiance, he is referred to by the kingdom as "his anarchist".

Shadow milk cookie:

(because his actual story will be coming out soon I'm so paranoid about having to retcon this in the future) he has defeated pure vanilla cookie, finally! After so long!!! But wait, why didn't this victory feel right..? Why was the soul jam not reacting properly? Upon vanilla cookie crumbling should it not go back to him? Spoiler alert, no, no it did not as he was not worthy of it and the light was actively fading, as he began to slowly feel weaker with the progressive fading, having to think fast and make a decision he was not sure if he'd regret, he put all of knowledge to use and revive pure vanilla, centuries of being the representative of knowledge sure does come in handy! Ever since that day and discovering if the light fades so would he, he's tried to stay close to pure vanilla out of convenience, over time it becoming an actual friendship, though he is still overly protective/possessive of him to make sure no one hurts him.

Explanation of the relationships:

Golden cheese

- appreciates how Pure Vanilla's kindness is not conditional and relishes in the praise, though she's worried over him slowly spending less time with White Lily

- loves how loyal Burning Spice is, she is aware he's obsessed with her but she interprets it as him being greedy for her attention (it kinda is ngl)

- has fun doing stuff with shadow milk cookie, they like going to events together like parties and just messing around, they can joke with each other comfortably

Burning Spice

- kinda obsessed with Golden Cheese, seeing her as the only cookie allowed to be stronger than him, he doesn't let other cookies fight her as they're "not worthy"

- mostly sees pure vanilla as one of Golden Cheese's treasures and feels an obligation to her radiance to protect him. Is too uncomfortable to get closer to PV because he reminds him so much of pre-corruption Shadow Milk

- the new shadow milk cookie is definitely more lively, and ever since SM got along with PV his pranks have become more harmless which is enjoyable, one of his oldest buddies

Pure Vanilla

- Golden Cheese is one of his oldest friends, after everything that has happened he doesn't want to lose his friends again, he's slowly spending more time with her as White Lily is busy with other stuff and after everything he just wants to spend time with his friends

- after learning to get along with eachother, shadow milk is actually enjoyable to be around! They can talk about intellectual magic stuff, enjoy food and drinks, play games like chess, or just spend time together in comfortable silence

- does not have any strong opinions on burning spice as they do not talk much, though he isn't sure why considering how often they hang out, PV is confident he's seen BS looking at him sometimes when he thinks he isn't looking

Shadow milk

- pure vanilla is calming, when they feel worked up over something he's always there, PV is helping him get along better with cookies

- Golden Cheese Cookie is (currently) his best friend, they jokingly got along under the pretense on not being huge on WL but their friendship kept improving

- it's too much fun to prank burning spice, like SURE he could just find something they both find fun but as long as BS doesn't how actual disdain towards them he's not gonna stop! He loves to tease him too :)c

If I think of anything else I might add It? Idk, genuinely I just like having good guys in media make the bad guys nice, I enjoy "I can fix him" so much, THE ANCIENTS FIX THE BEASTS I SWEAR

[stupidjewishwhiteboy]

Random anime, summarized badly (stolen from my Facebook Memories):

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas: a movie that contains absolutely no cannibals, zombies, etc.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: teen angst, with giant robots

FLCL: tween angst, with robots of various sizes that burst out of the main character's head in ways that might remind the viewer of other things going on in a tween's body

Gurren Lagann: We don't have time for teen angst in our increasingly growing robot anime, it's about to get MANLY

Promare: like Gurren Lagann, with gay firefighters

Kill La Kill: Wearing clothing is fascist, join the nudist anarchist rebellion!

Fire Force: Takes the term "fire fighter" rather more literally than usual

Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl: Well, I suppose there are *weirder* ways of getting free gender reassignment surgery

Ouran High School Host Club: It's about teenage prostitution! Sorta. Not really.

Cowboy Bebop: episode antagonists include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from "Game of Death," Cruella DeVille as an ecoterrorist, a senile old guy who likes to play chess, The Unabomber with a teddy bear theme, a bored computer with an interest in pre-Columbian South American art, Marshall Applewhite as an online avatar and Baron Harkonnen if he was also the Joker.

Outlaw Star: one episode revolves around an alien cactus who uses its mental powers to force people to eat inferior ice cream.

Trigun: why don't more shows involve insurance agents trying to deal with the fallout of your typical shonen action nonsense?

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Just because a critter is cute and says he can turn you into Sailor Moon doesn't mean you should trust him

Welcome to the NHK: even if both you and all of your friends are genuinely messed up toxic people, hanging out together is still probably better than not

Genshiken: If you have ever self-identified as a nerd, geek, or similar term, you either know multiple people who will remind you of characters in the show, or you ARE one of the characters in this show

Shirobako: boy, making anime sure is stressful and hard!

[cubitodragon-moved]

Yesterday Mike added more fuel to my “Tubbo is bugged” theory and it’s making me extra worried about what’s going to happen this week LOL.

This post is rambly and long, so I’m sticking things behind a cut!

Mike’s memories of the last 3+ weeks are scrambled and foggy; an interrupted El Quackity treatment? Unclear. But between saying he doesn’t remember anything and then spouting off pro-Federation propaganda (something his anarchist ass would never willingly do!) and fiercely trying to pin blame to Fit as a traitor, a comment by him during one of the questioning sessions stood out to me.

When Fit asked who told him his janitor duties were fake/a front, that he couldn’t be trusted, he said Cucurucho.

We and FitMC know that the Feds are sus of Fit, but they’ve had no actual concrete evidence that he’s been misusing his position to obtain information. And yet now Cucurucho, supposedly, is informing Mike of this so called betrayal?

If we think back to the prison cleanup in August, there was a room that had a chess board map on the wall. Only two pieces were present: a queen and a pawn. And the pawn was positioned on a clear way to indicate it’s meant to represent Fit. A warning - possibly to Fit from the ghost entity in the Prison (or someone in a neighbouring pocket dimension, if recent ruminations and theories on the server have any legs) that aided Pac and Mike, OR the Federation itself, reminding him of who has the power and who is always watching.

But they have yet to take any action. And always praised his work when completed.

Enter: Tubbo. Who arrived on the Island as part of a group rescued from a mysterious location. One with lots of strange blocks, code-eggs, frozen floors and who himself was frozen away. Shortly after, Mike and Pac ventured back to that location to explore, and when he entered the tower, the floor vanished and Mike fell. Fell down into a pool of water at the bottom of a trap lined in black concrete, and then frozen.

During Mike’s absence, Tubbo has gotten to know the “morning crew”, has gotten up in everyone’s business. I’ve outlined some highlights in another post. But more recently, every time he talks to Fit about his cleaning job, he’s picked at it again and again. Freaks out over the badge and keycard - especially over the keycard. (This feels important, for more than just Tubbo’s excuses of it being bugged, but I can’t put my finger on why, yet.). Tubbo whines when Fit won’t give him direct insight, or tell him detailed specifics on what he’s found on the job. Fit has made it clear he will not jeopardise his position to satisfy Tubbo’s need to meta-game win over the system to know everything, resulting in accusations, and Tubbo commenting privately to his own chat that this makes Fit untrustworthy in his eyes. Tubbo has been careless with some of his questions. They’ve been asked topside, sideways comments uttered with side eye. He wants to KNOW what Fit is after.

And Fit did spill to Tubbo that he’s not just there for the obvious. Yes, He IS looking for something. Yeah, he IS trying to find things out about the Codes, the Eggs, and the Federation - he wants his beautiful baby boy (made in Heaven by God Himself) back home safe and sound.

But this has not been successful, never mind the long absence of any work in the last few weeks..and we the viewers know that things he has found have been incomplete, or need more time to cook before he goes to others with evidence. Fit is meticulous, his life on 2B2T trained this into him in order to survive. You don’t last 10 years in an anarchy wasteland without being prepared. Better and safer to leave things unsaid than having to walk them back later. And there’s no point in sharing what isn’t relevant to the matter at hand.

And now Mike - who Fit calls friend, who he bonded with, who he swore to help locate Walter Bob with - said Cucurucho told him that Fit was a traitor, and wasn’t looking for what he said he was, even point blank accused him of lying yesterday about what he’s looking for. And when pressed about what he’d found so far when on janitor duty, Fit had to admit that no, he hadn’t found anything related to the Eggs or the Code.

Mike seemed to take that as proof of his lying about what he’s doing. That what he was told was right. But admitting to a lack of success doesn’t make one a liar. And Fit telling him he found nothing is also a smart play - lose lips sink ships, and better to be thought incompetent. Especially if the Federation are now trying to flush you - and perhaps your ties to your employer, outside the island - out into the open.

The Federation did not know about Ramón’s furnaces until Tubbo did. And they didn’t know Fit was in it for more than the obvious until he spoke with Tubbo. They can’t get Tubbo to take on Fit, but they can use a different pawn they have on the board instead.

I may well be completely off base. And I’ll be delighted if I am. It’s been so much fun to theorise about the lore on QSMP! But mark my words, we need to pay much more attention over the next 48 hours. And who knows what everyone will come back to in a week’s time?

[tothisemptiness]

Golden Hour: Part 2 Analysis Series Part II: "Ice On My Teeth" MV

Hey everyone! Welcome to the second part of my analysis series of this comeback. In this post I will be analizing the Ice On My Teeth MV step by step. Please watch it before you read this post so that you can follow along easier. If you would like to see the other parts of this series you can find them below:

Part I: Golden Hour: Part 2 Diaries

Part III: The Chess Piece Theory

Bonus Part: Character Studies

Meet Counter-TEEZ

Author's Note: This must be what Atiny felt like when "Say My Name" MV first came out because dude I understand nothing and I have nothing at my hands. I only know that ATEEZ MVs have a pattern of representing future events especially when they are filmed at the early stages of their respective story arcs, like "Say My Name" and "Answer". Therefore, I think this MV takes place during a plot point that will be revealed to us in a future diary and we will be able to make perfect sense of it then.

First off we see the towel turn from white to black. I am hitting you so hard with a theory right off the bat. Now, let's settle that the ATEEZ we see in this MV is represented by the color black. They wear all black except for some scenes of HJ and San and according to the members are chess pieces theory, the ATEEZ in this MV are the black pieces. Who is the white one? Z's regime is characterized by white uniforms, sure. Who else wears all white though?

These guys.

Also these guys. We can basically conclude that the ATEEZ we've known from the start are characterized by white, which symbolizes purity and ingenuity. It is very fitting considering their youth and noble goals.

Then who is this ATEEZ, why are they black and why are they against our ATEEZ? I genuinely don't know. For now I will be calling them Counter-TEEZ which will make more sense as I proceed with this analysis.

The ring kissing move is usually part of patriarchal establishments, or at least groups with heavy hierarchy. When compared to Black Pirates, this isn't very anarchist of them.

Snow. Keep this in mind, it will come up later. I also want to point out how, except for group shots and a single shot that is immediately followed by a group shot at the same setting, Hongjoong is always alone in this MV, he doesn't interact with his groupmates at all.

A broken mirror. We know this is an important symbol because it also shows up on the D-Day poster. Mirrors are symbols of self-perception and identity, this was the main reason why in Z's regime people were impeded from seeing their reflection in any way. Here, the mirror is broken. This may indicate ATEEZ's own identities are somehow distorted in this MV, further supporting my Counter-TEEZ theory. Notice how a chandelier appears in the background, which is also in the poster? Also keep that in mind.

We said that Counter-TEEZ are the black pieces. I imagine the tennis player army and the ballerinas to be their pawns because otherwise what would the tennis players' presence even mean. Interestingly, they are dressed in all white with just a black ski mask. I don't exactly know what this means, but it means something.

More chandeliers! San is pulling himself up using the chandelier but it barely budges. Gravity seems to be fucked since normal weight doesn't apply here. Another instance of weaker gravity in the MV is when Hongjoong floats in front of a neo-classical painting. Tumblr won't let me add more photos, just look at my icon. Usually we think stuff like this happen in the dream sequences, so this must be a dream sequence. Except we don't have the bright colors or extra-absurd imagery. Do you remember where else we see mention of fucked gravity?

"Halazia". The MV very likely takes place around the time of "Halazia" or at least after the event that caused the world to lose its gravity.

Excuse the shitty GIF, I did my best putting it up here, just focus on the move. The footwork is a Charleston move, which was a dance very popular during the Roaring 20s. Also HJ's flapper-esque styling belongs to the same era. The Roaring 20s was a period in the US characterized by the American Dream and extravagancy that showed off your wealth. Does the theme sound similar? "IOMT" in itself also shows us extravagant displays of wealth: a giant mansion, way too many chandeliers, diamond covered jewellery everywhere, a classical car on the dinner table... Is this dance move or HJ's clothes plot relevant? Not really, but it is fun to notice and draw parallels from! They also subtly reinforce the themes very well while keeping the artistic touches.

Especially in this part of the MV Yunho looks more in control even over other members and fills in HJ's absence in the leadership. Yunho taking on the role of the leader and HJ being isolated from the rest is also something we see in "Halazia". I usually don't like relating songs directly to the lore but ATEEZ have established that they actually tell the story through their music, so I will consider some lyrics. Yunho basically stops the puppet show Yeosang puts on for the press saying "How do we look?". What was Yeosang about to disclose that Yunho worried about their image? And why through a puppet<*

Yeosang is once again likened to a little bird. Let's draw some parallels between the MV, lyrics and the established lore. Other than this, we hear "Halazia" mention a little bird that is silenced:

"Mm, the little blue bird that lost its voice

I can hear the whispers

The beginnings of a deep echo

The voice that will overturn the world"

In the diary analysis post, we had established that thinking of YS as the blue bird seems like a reasonable idea now. When do we see YS being disregarded when he speaks? When he speaks to his father about his dreams. When he asks members about Sopro again and again. When he goes against WY's idea of starting again. We are so focused on WY but nobody verbally supports YS then, WY at least has Jongho support the idea even a bit. I doubt the theme of disregarding YS's words will end here. Furthermore, we see that he is becoming more and more central to the lore than he's ever been. I will come back to this point.

I need someone to help me understand if he is saying something clever or if he is just saying "WE ATE!!!".

There is a tied tic-tac-toe game between a white and a black player. I will start stretching this out to symbolize something. I think the white player (both in chess and in tic-tac-toe) is the original ATEEZ that lives on passion and dreams while the black player is Counter-TEEZ that live with the desire for money and other materialistic stuff. The reason they are in a tie is without money, they can't do their art but to make money they must compromise from their dreams, however what would the money they earn this way mean if they can't use it for progressing towards their dream? There is a blackish gray cat walking around the game. Wooyoung's symbolic animal is a black cat, so I think it symbolizes him trying to find a way out of this game. Both in this game and in chess whites start first and it also applies to this theory: before they ever thought of money they were already chasing their dreams, the need and desire for money came later on.

Jongho seems to stand in the middle of what looks like a medieval chandelier, with two fallen chandeliers beside him. I know I talk a lot about the chandeliers but they just keep appearing and falling down out of nowhere. I swear I am going somewhere with this topic, I just want to leave it for the end where I can talk about it more comprehensively. For now, I have 2 small theories that explain them:

They represent Counter-TEEZ's greed for extreme wealth falling apart

In "Halazia" not only do we see gravity weaken, we also see it coming back (the floating metal ball San pulls falls down). For all we know the gravity may also get stronger in this case. Then the chandeliers that hang from the ceiling may get unnaturally heavier and fall off from the ceiling since they hang from there with a support system fit for a lighter weight.

Return of bouncing yellow cars. Why though? Why put a recurring image like this? It doesn't even fit the aesthetic or the mood of this MV. Also we see that there are also full black pawns, so the white ones with black masks aren't the only ones. However, these ones aren't dressed up like artists or sports players but more like businessmen or a mob.

The song isn't even about this bro.

Yuh. I have no idea what kind of scheme requires this. I can only trust it will be revealed in the upcoming diaries

Yunho is showing the doctor something like an X-Ray scan of... the mansion? How do mansions have X-Ray scans? Who is the doctor? Why is he so scared of this and why does Yunho look like he is threatening him? Stuff that I hope we will find out in (checks old MV and diary dates) 2 years... fuck.

Is this a generic antique lighter or is it specifically made for this MV with a special meaning to the logo on the lighter? Someone help.

Arson and homicide all at once. 4 questions come to mind:

Why were all those furniture outside?

Why did Jongho pull them all in from a small window on the top floor?

Why did they burn them all outside after taking them in?

Why burn the doctor too?

The destruction of art, something normal ATEEZ covets and puts effort and money in keeping alive, is a theme previously explored in "MATZ", generally considered as a Halazia-related content. Too early to say anything, but I believe Counter-TEEZ may be walking along the same line as MATZ there. Speaking of fire and "Halazia", they prefer to destroy the images of Halateez using fire there.

I don't know if anyone else noticed but they don't put cookies at the end of MVs anymore :(

Loose threads to tie

There are a few elements I left to discuss here so that I won't be tied to a singular part of the MV or the song to discuss them.

I mentioned the chandeliers so much but pianos are also a recurring element in the MV. I believe it is the only musical instrument to show up (despite violins being the focal part of the song).

As I point out the chandeliers fall an abnormal amount of times. When San hangs from one, when Seonghwa claps his hands during his rap, two-three are already fallen while Jongho sings the second pre-chorus. Where else in ATEEZ's videography do chandeliers (fallen or not) and pianos come up? "Halazia".

There are 3 fallen chandeliers and one still standing just in this room. This is an absurd amount of chandeliers for a room of this size btw. In the back we also notice a piano. Not a grand piano like in here, but the pattern is still here.

Where else?

"Answer", which coincidentially (?) starts with a piano melody that has nothing to do with the song itself. Other elements that parallel "Answer" are the presence of snow and the images on the D-Day poster: glasses, a table ornate with candles, chandelier (again), and a mirror. In "Answer" we see an overwhelming amount of mirrors, both full size and as shards. The room HJ is in looks similar enough to that of "Answer" but smaller and not exactly the same. The theme of glasses also come up in "IOMT"s lyrics like "How many glasses? Woo, eight total", even though in "Answer" we see twice the amount. While I am so sure "IOMT" relates directly to "Halazia", I'm not sure how it links to "Answer", but the parallels are there, and out of all the images in the music video they chose the ones that were previously seen a lot in "Answer".

Yeosang Interlude

Another topic is the mansion itself. It feels like an exaggerated version of Yeosang's villa. Below are all the descriptions of the villa:

An antique villa, far removed from the city center and hidden by lush trees

A large table in the dining room

“The dining room let out into a short hallway that connected to the living room.”

Large windows framed by curtains

An antique cabinet is next to the window with a familiar frame and a broken glass object

The location, the hallway we see Seonghwa in that is narrow but seemingly endless in length, the absurdly large dining table that can fit a car on top of it, and the room where we see the Cromer and Sopro is likely the study where we see Jongho (with the large window and antique furniture). The mansion has a lot of artwork in it. Yeosang is an investor who also invests in art, taking on the historical "patron" role. Especially in the previous centuries, patrons would commission artists for artwork that they would exhibit in their own houses, so Yeosang having many artworks in his villa is a very fitting thing for his character. However, as I said, the mansion isn't directly YS's villa, it is an exaggerated image of it. Speaking of the parallels between the villa and the MV, the line "How many glasses? Woo, eight total" may also refer to the dinner scene in the diaries.

The backtrack of this song has violins as its focus. As we mentioned before, ATEEZ uses music to link their stories together. Violins don't come up in the songs, but they come up in "Halazia"s prologue, right after the blue bird flies away. Violins are also representative of Yeosang. "IOMT" basically combines all of Yeosang's imagery in one MV and gives us a good reason to think that he will be central to the story from now on.

Aside from not being able to speak, the little blue bird is also seen guiding Seonghwa to the white-clothed people in "Halazia"s prologue and epilogue. I will theorize a little on Yeosang's role here. He was the only member who explicitly went against Wooyoung in the diaries, saying their lives aren't failures just because they aren't chasing their first dream now. After Wooyoung uses Sopro, I think Yeosang will be the first member to break out of its effect (because he is much less tied down to this old dream than any of the other members, shown by only him being able to refuse the idea immediately) and will try to wake others up but he will, again, either be disregarded or downright shut down by the members who are caught up in its effect, mimicking the silenced blue bird. In this process, he will take on a guiding role for the group and his success will start a series of events that will change ATEEZ's universe completely. In this arc if Wooyoung is the voice of the heart Yeosang will be that of reason. Finally, I think Yeosang will first be able to wake Seonghwa up, leading him to the "Be Free" bracelet will trigger this as seen in the Epilogue, and moving from there will wake the others up with a similar method.

I hope I didn't miss anything but it is currently 3 AM so I very likely did. This has been a very detailed analysis and I couldn't even talk about some details I would like to because I can't really make sense of them. If I remember anything else I will come back and edit this post. If you took the time to read until here thank you very much and see you soon with the remaining parts of the analysis since I still have some themes in this comeback that I would like to discuss <3

[westywrites]

(I haven't touched Tumblr in ages but I popped on for a minute. Now I'm seeing everyone doing this thing and I can't resist)

I'm gonna include some older wips in this that are still always on my mind and a newer one I'm working on with a friend that I haven't talked about here

[gimmick-blog-bracket]

Cull Poll 33

@haveyouatethisfruit

“I learned a lot about fruits from this blog and I had so much fun researching the various names and facts. It was cool to see fruits from around the globe that I might not even have known existed before and get the feeling of how awesome all the stuff there is in the world is. The blog even became part of my daily routine and I was sad when it was no longer managed at some point, I guess fruits became important to me in their own way”

@anarchist-chess

“They did surprisingly well against the computer collectively. They didn't win obviously but they survived a long time.”

[idlenight]

25 + 45 for river? c:

Questions from here.

25. What subject / topic do they know a lot about that’s completely useless to the direct plot?

So many nautical related facts. He could tell you about the intricacies of keeping up an aquarium tank for hours.

Semi-related for tactician steps but also so many chess facts and strategies. He was decently good at it pre-first escape, but he became really into it when he started up regular matches with Chen, he just couldn't stand the small smug look when Steel won against him the first time. So all the knowledge is a side-effect of his very normal behaviour about needing to take Chen down... in chess!

45. What’s something unimportant / frivolous that they hate passionately?

also answered here. But let's do another one, because ofc mr Revenge Scar + Justice Motiv Anarchist has OPINIONS.

People's walking speed!

MOVE IM GAY. Is basically the telepathic energy he sends out to get the people in front of him to speed up or move out of the way. Im not kidding he is actively tweaking the walking speed of the pedestrians around him, everybody else just match his speed with his freakishly long legs. KEEP UP.

thank you for the ask gabe <3

[ocicat-n-nil]

Welcome to our account. :]

We are Ocicat and Nil, a couple of best friends in a QPR working in a project together.

In this blog we'll be posting stuff related to our in-progress webcomic, Cacophony of Solitude.

The story focuses on a struggling queer teenager named Cliff, trying to figure himself out and get back on his feet after the end of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The story deals with the aftermath of the quarantine. The loss of his social life, his self-esteem, and the psychological effects it had on him.

If it interests you, consider following us, and make sure to help us reach more people!!!

If you're searching for trans, aromantic, and QPR representation, this story is for you!!!

So anyways, we hope you accompany us through this journey.

Introduction

Hi I'm Ocicat!! :3 I'm the main artist of Cacophony of Solitude and one of the directors!

I'll post a lot of art, mainly original art because I love my ocs but there'll be fanart like every 6 months. I also really like cats.

Trans (he/him) and aro ace!!

Will Wood, Ghost and Pals, Bo Burnham, Sodikken and Lemon Demon listener

I'm from Mexico 🇲🇽

Currently VERY obsessed with Hamilton, my last obsession was Will Wood

Get scared is my favorite band :3

Hollow Knight is my favorite game, but I'm a Metroidvania lover overall

Other games I enjoy: Omori, Tboi, Undertale/Deltarune, Dark Souls, Minecraft

Chess enjoyer

Vegetarian!

I'm learning to code and aspire to make a game some day

Very anxious and awkward to put me out there but also interested in musical theatre and DnD

You'll know it's me when I use this (ᨐฅ) emoticon!! I try to interact as much as possible and I'll probably follow back anyone that follows us!!

Hello, my name is Nil. I'm one of the directors of Cacophony of Solitude and its main writer. Here's some stuff about me Ig:

I don't have a gender.

My preferred pronouns are "Void/It", but I go by any, Idrc.

I'm aromantic.

Voidpunk.

I'm an anarchist and I'm annoying about it.

I'm a vegetarian, tho I'd like becoming a vegan in the near future.

I'm from Chile. 🇨🇱

I like politics.

I'm a singer, I like doing covers when I have the time for it. I'm also trying to learn piano!!!

I love writing. I usually write scripts for stories, but I like writing poems too.

I like acting a lot, I'm still a beginner, but I like writing scripts and then performing them. My main passion is musical theater.

I also love dancing and learning choreographies. I go dancing through life.

I'm trying to learn how to get better at drawing thanks to Ocicat!!! I like it a lot too, but it's not my main form of expression.

I'm learning how to be a programmer.

I like Dark Souls, Hollow Knight, TBOI, Omori, Kirby, Minecraft, Undertale/Deltarune, chess, and other games!!!

I'm a Starkid fan, and also like other musicals like Heathers and Hamilton.

I like Batman a lot, and in general the DC universe. I also like Invincible.

Aside from musicals, I also listen to Will Wood, Bo Burnham, and OST from my favorite games.

I'm passionate about playing DnD, especially interested in becoming a DM.

I probably won't post a lot, since I'm still learning how to draw and I don't feel like uploading my other interests will help a lot to boost this account. However, I will keep putting all of my effort into writing Cacophony of Solitude, and making sure you have as much of a good time reading it as I do working on it. I will try to interact too, I like giving my opinions. You'll know I'm the one talking when you see this "👁".

Thank you for your support!!!

[sunsetno4]

Just some random thoughts while I fuck around with Lulu’s game~~~

I restarted their game, mainly because I’m a bit clueless what scar would work best for them. It was hunger last time, but it didn’t really fit. :/!

Like with Vendetta, sui/outside was what just happened but it worked out that it was the one that fucked against nir natural personality the most. At nir core, Vendetta does like people and deeply desires to be part of the outside world, to be apart of something. Friendless isn’t strong enough. Disconnecting Vendetta from feeling like ne belongs in the world is basically nir version of Hell, especially given ne has memories of belonging! Ne remembers! Ne did it once before, and ne wants to again. Ne just ...can’t anymore.

On the flipside, Dante having the Puppetmaster plays into his worst impulses of isolation and need for control. It compliments him much better, but that’s because Dante doesn’t mind isolation and absolutely craves control, especially post-Heartbreak. Control is safe, isolation is safe. He wants to be hands-free god, lining up his chess pieces in such a way that he’s always safe and always out of the harm’s way. In the back of Dante’s head, he’s constantly just ‘coward, coward, coward~~~~ I’m a coward~~~’. But that’s okay because he’ll be safe once and for all once he finishes setting up his chess board.

Lulu doesn’t really have an option that sticks out instantly as one that plays with or against their natural impulses, at least not like Ven and Dante’s do. I am trying out revenge because on the surface, I think that’ll work best for Lulu and I really enjoyed the lead-up to getting revenge? Like Lulu just gives into Heartbreak and seeing the experiment from HB’s experiences is heart-breaking for them.

I also do love them getting snuck into a loop of sorts. That it isn’t just for them, but Heartbreak too. They both deserved better. It does fit into Lulu’s need for justice. I don’t think Lulu would care to be friendless or hungers for much, but forgoing their better judgments to help a stranger? Absolutely. It’s why Lulu loved being Sidestep. And revenge is worth destroying that legacy for.

I’m trying out anarchist because god, someone needs to break the system and Vendetta said ‘no thanks, I want heists! ✨’. Thanks, Ven! :')! Hero Hunter (kill) was a lot of fun buuuuuut Hero Hunter (prepare) is Dante to a tee. So, we’ll see! So far, it does fit Lulu a far bit too and they can still do a fair bit of murder in it, if my memories serve me correctly.

Also.

🥺❤️🥺❤️🥺❤️🥺❤️

I got higher stats with Ortega this round and this feels better for them. They always had a weird sibling vibe in my head. It’s where their nickname came from. Their actual name is Luciola/Luciole, and Lulu felt like such a silly little sibling type nickname to me that it's just Lulu now. ^^;;

Last time, they ended up with ghost status which was interesting and cooooould work, but it feels more a bit honest? Lulu isn’t as self-isolating as Ven, so while they could absolutely stay away with ease, I think staying as simple friends feels apt.

Also. Villain!Lulu has everyone like terrified (yay for scary armor, boo my internal monologue saying Lulu wouldn't actually pick it now) and I always picture sus!Ortega being like ‘but it’s Lulu?? They sobbed for thirty minutes because Wei killed a spider once and didn’t talk to him for five whole months after. Lulu can’t be scary. It’s Lulu.’

And Lulu is over here, murdering corrupt officials and heroes because Revenge Is A Lovely Feeling. :)!

[anarchist-chess]

The Game:

With a resignation on move 53, the game has ended.

With an accuracy of 86% relative to computer analysis, this is an extremely solid playing level. (The computer managed 93%, which I naively estimate puts our collective rating somewhere around 2000.) As I suspect we had no candidate masters or actual master players, this is a marked improvement over the individual players, who probably cap out at around 1500, with most lower than that.

The most important move was probably 20. a4. Before then, the game may have been a draw or a victory for white, but after that, it became a draw or a victory for black because of how it weakened the queenside. (The computer, as seen here, suggests h3 as the alternative, which I guess is reasonable.)

Incidentally, the correct response to 22... c4+ was not 23. d4, which allows the c pawn to come to sit on b2, where it annoyed us for a long period of the middle and late game, but to offer a trade of queens with Qf2.

This actually was a pretty common thread, where the weak moves would be made in very positional situations, and would be followed by an unwillingness to offer trades. This is actually pretty interesting, because some of the best play from the collective was during tactical positions (Aside from move 24 where we exchanged a rook for a bishop instead of recognizing that the b2 pawn promoting was not actually a threat yet and capturing the f8 rook instead), but the collective's votes also tried to get us into much more cautious and strategic positions, occasionally to our detriment.

This implies that a more tactical opening is actually desirable, perhaps the scotch game or a king's indian attack, rather than the weird hybrid italian-scotch opening we ended up with. However, that might be too risky, as a single mistake in a tactical situation could be devastating.

Overall, the period from move 20-24 was the most damaging to our game, but the overall decline was pretty slow. The position wasn't basically-unwinnable until move 37. d4, which would eventually break our kingside pawn structure.

At the time of resignation, there was a forced checkmate. With fairly accurate play, we'd have been checkmated on the 8th rank by two queens promoted from the h and g pawns. It might have looked something like this.

Thus it goes. And remember, you can send questions to the ask box if you'd like! Also, Anarchist Chess will probably return for a second game (though probably not this month.)

[inoppositionflorien]

Huh

That's a larger scale study on the matter of "how effective is a large group playing collectively, does it level off somewhere below high level players or is there some number of people who know some chess together that produces arbitrarily accurate play?" than we could do with Anarchist Chess alone. Very interesting.

[lunarian-anarchist]

Before You Follow...

So to save myself a headache and having to deal with the bigoted maniacs on this site; I will now be making y'all aware of what I won't tolerate on here and also to make y'all aware of who I am and what I believe.

Firstly; if you are anti Ukraine or Pro Russia this isn't the blog for you. While I have my own criticisms of the Ukrainian government and NATO; that doesn't mean I support Russia. Russia isn't a communist country (which is an oxymoron anyways) and it is not interested in liberating other countries.

I am Pro Palestine but will not tolerate anti antisemitism; and no, I don't consider fair (aka not double standards) criticisms or even the want for Israel to not exist to be antisemitic. I am an anarchist first and foremost. I don't support the existence of any state.

If you go around calling Palestinians terrorists or savages this blog is not for you. If you go around calling all Israelis evil bloodthirsty monsters, this blog is not for you. People are not their governments.

If you support the government of Israel, this blog is not for you. If you support the government of Iran, this blog is not for you. There is no freedom in fascist theocracies or wannabe fascist theocracies.

If you support Hamas or the Houthis, this blog is not for you. There is no liberation in hatred and religious extremism backed by foreign governments who play chess with people's lives.

If you go around accusing random people of being a part of a specific belief you don't approve of, this blog is not for you. I don't believe in witch hunts or smearing other people to make yourself look good. If you want to know what someone believes, have a conversation with them.

Do not send me asks like "OMG!! Are you a _____??!". These asks are always in bad faith and are just looking for an opportunity to scream at someone over the internet and make themselves feel good. If you have a genuine question about what I believe, you can ask me in good faith. If I believe your ask is not in good faith I will delete it and possibly block you, depending on how accusatory it was.

90% of the time; Posting is not a revolutionary act. Alright y'all need to hear this one. While it can absolutely be good to spread awareness or post donation funds; you are not a revolutionary if you spend all your time posting unsourced twitter screenshots or typing up posts like "how come people aren't posting XYZ?" or "If you don't post XYZ you are a bad person!! How can you post anything not related to XYZ? Don't you realize people in XYZ are struggling everyday??!!". These types of posts are self righteous bullshit posted by people who spend all their time online and 99% of the time have never even attended a protest. Internet activism can achieve things sometimes but y'all grossly overestimate how often that is.

People are not morally or politically pure. This doesn't mean we should accept bigotry but it does mean that sometimes people will disappoint you and you should handle that in a mature and reasonable way rather than a callout post or sending death threats.

People make mistakes, people can be wrong. Make space for that. I find it disturbing and hilarious that so many leftists who claim to believe in restorative justice and criticize state punishment are all to willing to put the boot on the second someone is not right or someone doesn't share their exact beliefs. Some of y'all aren't bothered by fascism or state violence, you're bothered that you're not the one deciding who lives and dies, and of course you always believe yourselves to be on the right side of history too. Unlearn that, unpack that, grow.

Lastly, I have a life outside of tumblr and won't always be around to post on the latest horrors going on. Also, while this is a politics blog I do post other things. This is my space, please respect that.

[nikolaraftis]

Character Profile: Zena Moralis

Art by Cory Godbey (2015)

Name, age, gender: Zenaida “Zena” Philomena Moralis, 22, female

Physical appearance; how the character feels about their physical appearance: dark brown eyes and long curly hair, sickly olive skin – freckled, Grecian nose and handsome features, short but confident stature, leanly muscled, naturally dark under-eyes, acne scars, resting sad face, wears hoop earrings religiously despite the risk, always cuts her nails short but paints them black; likes her appearance though believes it is not something that would attract other people or is considered conventionally attractive. Clothing: Loose shirts and high-waisted trousers made for freedom of movement, with belts to match her jewellery, and combat boots, along with cloaks or a hoodie/coat, depending on where she just came from. This is her default. Sometimes she’ll wear loose trousers and armoured tops with armbands and bracers. For more formal occasions, she wears elegant, eye-catching gowns that would make magpies envious.

Race, class, ethnicity: human, middle class, Greek/Mundus Rimorian.

Childhood experience – family relationships, friends and key figures, lifestyle, education, activities and interests

Family relationships: Zena lives with her absentee father, Eamon Moralis, and her sister, Phoebe. She knows no other family, save for Evangeline Clemenza, the woman who is allegedly hers and Phoebe's runaway mother.

Friends: Kamali Wynn is Zena’s best friend from childhood, and she also meets Florence Escoffier almost a month before the novel's beginning and the two are fast friends.

Key figures: Cain Wynn and Lulit Wynn, parents of Kamali and their youngest daughter, Makeda. Cain and Lulit frequently babysat Zena and were there for her in ways that Eamon was not.

Lifestyle: limited by arthritis and a strict father, at least until he started disappearing for long periods of time. She stays active to keep her body going and blow off frustrated steam.

Education: received a full education with a high school diploma, is currently enrolled in her final year of law at university.

Activities/hobbies: reading, writing (fan fiction), sketching, tennis.

Interests: novels, gardening, 1 v 1 or 2 v 2 sports (including chess), arts, and video games.

Attitudes and moral beliefs: Zena believes in justice, which she measures by her own moral code that she has constructed growing up. She dislikes authority, but not to the level of being an anarchist. Murder is not okay. Mostly though, she believes in having the freedom to live how you want.

Current relationships – parents, siblings, romantic partners, friends, children, etc.: Eamon is the only semi-present parent who Zena is on rocky terms with since she hates him but is reluctantly attached to him despite this, she's very close with her sister Phoebe and her best friend Kamali, and she has no romantic partner currently but has a bad habit of falling in love with everyone.

Religious background and current religious beliefs: Zena does not believe in a higher power.

Occupation; relationship to boss and coworkers: full-time university student; does not mind most of her professors, and is divided in her feelings about her classmates.

Main aspects of personality – introvert/extrovert, pessimist/optimist, thinking/feeling, etc.: Zena is at heart an introvert, an absurdist and cynic, who wars between her thoughts and feelings but is ultimately ruled by the former. She falls in love too easily despite how often she’ll claim she’s “not afraid to be alone”, because she craves deeper connection and to feel secure. Zena also has a bad habit of self-sacrificing that comes from disregarding her own life.

What are they proud of? Ashamed of?: Zena is proud of her own stubbornness and determination, as well as her humour, but she is ashamed of her insecurities (feeling lonely, unstable, not strong enough, not quite smart enough, not pretty enough – not enough for anyone, a failure, someone to be left behind).

State of health: she is generally healthy, aside from the arthritis, but she tends to catch colds often. She is strong but not very much so.

Fears: abandonment (particularly when Eamon “gave up” on her), needles/injections, drowning, claustrophobia, losing herself, failing.

Sense of humour: sarcastic, dry, silly, and occasionally dark.

Core characteristic: represented by the sun in her intensity, warmth, passion, and yet removed nature (the moon is closer to the earth than the sun), her fiery anger and occasional harshness. Her core characteristic is a sense of justice; it's what drives and guides her.

Inherent contradiction: craving connection with people but holding them at arm’s length because she’s afraid of abandonment, of failing them.

Favourites: orange (flavour/food/colour), bears, summer, Earl Grey tea, hot showers, martial arts (sport), thunderstorms, sunrise.

Dislikes: green tea, liars, swimming, sharks, injustice, losing.

[grimm-tales-gamer]

Fallen Hero: Sidestep 6

This one is definitely one close to my heart due to how differently the route went compared to how I thought it was going to go. Went a completely different direction.

Name: Riley Rivers

Gender: none ya… none ya business. They/them work fine as pronouns

Villain name: Retribution

Villainous role: anarchist

Motivation: revenge

Scar: friendless

Reason for gala: fight the rangers

Where are they now?: broken in both spirit and body. Left at the rangers hospital.

   I know I say this for a lot of my sidesteps but, Riley in particular is a mess. I originally made them to be one of my “softsteps” but they made poor decision after poor decision. Not to mention them slowly loosing control due to them constantly opening gates (think they are at 4 or 5 now?). Riley is definitely one my more tragic sidesteps. They tried so hard to be the “vigilante on the wrong side of the law” but they tripped and fell on their face.

   Riley’s reason for doing this is essentially: I’m going to be the hero that I never had. Now, does that clash with their revenge motivation? Maybe, possibly, but they just want to make sure what happened to them never happens again. To anyone. They are willing to kill, but they made a promise to 1. Always save people who are grave danger 2. Never kill unless necessary. They broke the second promise at the casino, with the amount of gates open they killed some people there and became known as a murderer. It did not end well for Riley.

   Before we continue, we should talk about Riley’s relationships. Riley helps the rangers out as much as they can, using the knowledge and street contacts to get the rangers what they need. They feel guilty over not being able to connect with their old friends due to their scar and see helping out as a way to make them feel less guilty. They get along best with Ortega (Julia) and Herald. Julia and Riley were an item back in the day and reignited their relationship early in Retribution. I don’t think Riley’s love for Julia is healthy. They saw Julia as their rival until after the gala. Realizing that Julia really didn’t know that Riley was alive and didn’t abandon them, Riley decided to give into what they wanted and start over again; now seeing their former self as their rival. Steel and Riley are complicated sort of… friendship? They still don’t get along but they don’t argue as much anymore.. maybe they are both just too tired to argue like they used to. Riley gets along with the other rangers, they basically have no relationship with Argent other then “oh, they’re here.” And they are Herald’s coach, they don’t really have an interest in a friendship with either of them.

   Everything changed after the meeting with Hollowground. Riley went themself and decided to work with Hollowground while secretly releasing information to the rangers. They left and got into the wreck. While they didn’t admit to being Retribution; Riley had accidentally left enough clues for Ortega to piece it together and confront Riley about being the villain. It didn’t end well. Ortega thinks that Riley is a regene clone and Riley being both angry and scared told Ortega to go away. Argent then clawed their eye out and argued with both Herald and Steel. Riley doesn’t see any of those relationships as salvageable. Ortega’s reaction to them really broke their heart and Riley is diving head first into their scar and motivation.

Alright, how about some fun facts huh?:

According to canon, sidestep is fairly prickly about their appearance. Riley is doubly so. While they always went by they/them, they were very self conscious about how they were perceived and dysphoria in general wearing them down. Anathema was the one who convinced them to go get hormone treatment to try and deal with the dysphoria.

Riley only ever lost 2 games of chess against Chen back in the sidestep days.

Riley used to make their own mead back in the sidestep days.

They used to have an small collection of cheesy off brand figurines of the different ranger members. Riley wonders occasionally what happened to it.

Riley refused to go to Halloween parties after one particular Halloween party Julia scared them so bad once they punched her in the face.

Riley is my tallest sidestep!

Last one, I have vibe quotes for each character. And one for Riley and Ortega gets me right in the heart every time: in a parallel or another world. Or a different life. We sit across from each other at the kitchen table and go over the grocery list.

Every time it gets me choked up.

Alright, let’s go over Riley’s stats, armor, and appearance:

Riley prefers anonymity at around 60%, empathy at 70%, and is cautious at 85%. She prefers power of mind over subtlety, the score being over 80.

Armor appearance: scary. Small parts of armor protrude from the suit like broken bones and others are made to look like growths and protrusions. The helmet is made to look humanoid but with something plant or fungal like growing from its missing jaw. The armor is dark in color with lots of dark greens, grays, and black.

Add ons: speed and telepathy

Extra: the voice modulator adds a creak or strain to Riley’s voice. As if something is crawling or scurrying in the armor itself as they speak.

Riley’s appearance:

Race: mixed

Height: tall. Around 6ft 8in (a little over 2m)

Hair: wavy brown hair. It’s parted in the middle and reaches their shoulders. But, due to the wreck and needing stitches, some was shaven off.

Eyes: green. They used to be brown. Thanks Void.

Style: nondescript casual. Lots of hoodies, large jackets over long sleeve t-shirts and sweats or jeans. Always wears boots though.

[tothisemptiness]

Golden Hour: Part 2 Analysis Series Part I: The Diaries

Hello everyone! I am here with the full analysis I had promised here. As I kept analizing and writing, I realized the post was becoming too long and it would be too tedious to read in one post so I decided to split it in various parts in which I would talk about one aspect of my analysis in each. If you want to read the other parts of this analysis you can find them below:

Part II: "Ice On My Teeth" MV

Part III: The Chess Piece Theory

Bonus Part: Character Studies

I want to start off with a personal note. I feel we are being stalled. A good half of the diaries this time only restate what was already told in GH:1 diaries. Honestly, the two albums' diaries could have been a single diary or GH:2 could have started the action off a bit more. If we go with this pace but tell a story as big as the first one I fear this thing is going to take something like 10 years (anticipating we won't get anything for a good 2 years at one point since they will do their military service) since right now they are going at half the pace of first arc.

I won't explain the diaries in detail here, I will just discuss the important parts so I strongly urge you to read them here. You can also find Golden Hour: Part 1 diaries here.

I feel it is important to understand their ages for measuring their level of maturity here. I believe they are around the same age as their real ages now. The only time indication we are given is that it has been 3 years since the end of Will diaries and the last time we could clearly hold track of time was the Fever series when events happened one after the another. I take their age in the first Fever entry, add around 2 years for the time they spent in World Z (the necessary time for establishing a big anarchist group) and add 3 years on top of that.

Not a plot point but I found the "Please. I call all handsome men oppa." line hilarious, she is so real for that.

In San's part there is an emphasis on "cleaning up your own mess". It is a big part of growing up, and our story here is about growing up. This makes me think that the guys have either caused a mess in the first part unkowingly and have to clean it up in this arc, or they will cause a mess in the near future and will have to clean up that.

The "Z backed into a corner, broke the Cromer in his attempt to flee, and, as a result, Woo Young and the members were thrown back into this world before they could see the climax of their movement." line in these diaries suggests they didn't come back on their own accord. In GH:1 diaries it is simply stated that Z was defeated and ATEEZ returned home, entrusting World Z to Black Pirates and Thunder. We just assumed they went back because they wanted to. This is a crucial part of the story that we never got to see, so will we ever see it?

"I know. I fell for him and nearly asked for his number." MINGI CANONICALLY GAY ICON??

The question of more artifacts comes back up, I believe this will be important in the upcoming comebacks. So far we have seen only one artifact that teleports you to the same place around the same time each time you use it for interdimensional transportation. A different artifact, however, may potentially teleport you to another universe or a far away time in the universes that we know. This would be a good way of connecting Halazia-related content to the main story.

I can't believe they actually referenced Britney Spears and said Wooyoung performs like her. These men are never beating the gay allegations.

"I saw so many ads with Min Gi on my way here today. He's everywhere! Do you know what it made me think of? (...) It's so over the top, it almost reminds me of Z." This may just be a fun jab, talking and reminiscing about the old times, but it is still a very interesting parallel between the characters in this arc and Z.

After Z breaks it, Yeosang picked Cromer up. He also picked up a red ruby named Sopro from Left Eye when they were getting out of the Disposal Sites in Fever Part 3 diaries. Now, we already didn't see the second Cromer break due to a huge timeskip, but nowhere in the diaries did they ever mention the red ruby, even though apparently Yeosang asked the group who should take care of it again and again and, surprisingly, nobody cared. It is a very interesting point, considering this object looks important since it looks like a gemstone and is said to be important and powerful by Left Eye. How nobody but Yeosang cared about it is currently beyond me. And even after acknowledging its presence, the group still moves on from it rather quickly and diverts the subject just like they had done before. The first and only appearance of the ruby is at the end of the "Crazy Form" MV, carried by the blue bird we had previously seen and heard of in "Halazia", its prologue and epilogue. In the "Crazy Form" MV reaction video, HJ shushes everyone up and indicates the cookie is important, and when asked who broke the Cromer he responds "the blue bird". The blue bird breaking a Cromer (not "the Cromer" because so far ATEEZ has used 2 Cromers and we don't exactly know which one this is) and carrying a red ruby away parallels Yeosang, who is often associated with the image of a bird, perfectly well. I think at this point it isn't too crazy to assume the blue bird directly represents Yeosang.

"I wonder what happened after we left. (...) Do they still remember ATEEZ? Or, do you think we've already been forgotten?" As part of the story, Yunho of course wonders this. We, as the viewer, know a bit more than what he does. Yes, they remember them, but not in the way they would like.

As the evening proceeds we see more and more reminiscing, becoming gradually more bitter than sweet. Even before that we see members questioning whether their current situation is what they really wanted their lives to be, hanging on the edge of dissatisfaction. It is clear that "Golden Hour" is not a term used to describe the current situation of our characters, it is for describing what they hang onto. They are hurt upon realizing that they have left their golden hours behind. Another theme of this series will be moving on from the past and recognizing golden hours as they happen, which I think will be even more evident in the later entries. The bitterness reaches its peak when Wooyoung suggests trying again and meets Yeosang's criticism, resulting in him leaving the party.

Another meaning of the term "golden hour" is "the first 60 minutes from the time of injury or appearance of symptoms in which an injured or sick person must receive definitive treatment". It is often related to trauma. Story-wise, their "golden hour" was the time from when they returned to World A to the point they ran out of money. If they were to make it big as artists, they must have done it right then but now that they are way past that time period their chances are near zero. Now they have to lead imperfectly put together lives, like a broken leg that heals a bit wrong due to insufficient first aid.

"Sopro is a sort of magical spirit that synchronizes the feelings of those who hold it with those who draw breath around them. According to legend, one of the four priest guardians of Halazia gathered the breaths of all of Halazia to create it." A simple paragraph that reveals so much. Let's pick it apart. Finally we have an idea about what Halazia really is: a sacred place according to a religion that was founded in the past in World Z. Maybe a temple with a considerable population or a sacred city (like Jerusalem for example). Combining this info with the knowledge that "Halazia" takes place after ATEEZ leaves World Z (judging by the prologue), we can say that in the future people turn back to religion, which was not present during the rule of Z. But, as it happens with all religions that have been around for a significant amount of time, the new version of this religion is somewhat changed in respect to its original version and we can say that by looking at the religious imagery that combines with the Halateez symbols.

"Sopro is a sort of magical spirit that synchronizes the feelings of those who hold it with those who draw breath around them." The desire to make everyone feel the same way. Stripping people of their free will. Doesn't it feel a bit too similar to Z's rule? It also doesn't say that those who are around the wielder will feel the same as the wielder, it just says their feelings will be synchronized. So instead Wooyoung may end up feeling the same as the others rather than the others feeling the same as him. There is a small grammar trick there (that I don't know if is the same in Korean) that changes everything.

Left Eye says that using Sopro may be dangerous. In fact, we don't know anything about its functioning and right usage except for the fact that it makes everyone breathing the same air as its wielder and the wielder themself feel the same. And who uses it? A drunk, hurt, and judging by the hour, likely sleep deprived Wooyoung. Amazing idea. Surely nothing will go wrong.

"Reignite our passion like it was back then," Now if I have watched enough films and have prayed enough to whatever god was listening to me, I should know that you must always be very specific in your wishes and prayers or else they come true in the literal meaning, which isn't always exactly what you actually meant. And here Wooyoung doesn't specify what the passion is for. Rookie mistake honestly.

A remark: There is this ongoing discussion on whether Wooyoung is a hidden villain or not in the fandom which was disputed by HJ saying that there are no members with hidden intentions. With his last action, WY arguably started an arc by the end of which the members will be changed irreversibly, very probably by going through horrible things in the process. He didn't have any hidden intentions: he messed everything up all while wearing his heart on his sleeve and had no bad intentions. He just made the error of thinking everyone truly wanted the same thing as him and acted selfishly while thinking he was doing them a favor. Now why does this action affect our old storyline? The indications are mostly given in videos like "Hala Hala". I believe the answer to this question relates to another theory of mine that isn't exactly related to this era, so I will focus more on it later on.

Where Do I We Go?

If you have already read my Golden Hour: Part 1 analysis, you know that I take the diary entries as the main things that further the lore and the MVs as things that expand the themes and mini-stories of the lore set up by them. Because of that I find this to be the right moment to establish where we are in the lore and hypothesize about where we will go next. Let's look at the 4 act story structure we had restarted with GH:1.

This is the latest point we are in.

The hook was the entirety of GH:1 diaries which set up the scene.

The inciting event was WY and YS's fight.

The key event is WY using Sopro.

What will happen next? First of all, a crisis will happen and we will meet our new antagonists in the next diary.

I doubt we will be introduced to an entirely new universe like World Z given that the end of its story arc is still not revealed to us clearly and we still have a very obscure story arc that is so far represented by the Halazia-related content. However, I don't think we are going back to anywhere near the point ATEEZ left World Z because even though it has been 3 years in the lore, we've gotten out of it just last comeback. It is also the thing our protagonists want and you can't give the protagonist what they want right at the beginning of your story. Therefore, I think we will be thrown into a time in World Z's future that is more connected to the Halazia arc so that we can start detangling it and exploring it more in depth.

I believe we will see a somewhat failed attempt at returning to World Z following this story that I completely made up because it is fun: By not being very specific in his prayer, WY ignited the wrong kind of passion. They have been secretly yearning to go back to World Z to their glorious lives more than just performing so they look for ways to go back there. In the desperation and haste, they do manage to go back to World Z but get the time wrong and end up too far into the future.

Furthermore, I think a big part of the struggle in this arc will come from the inside of our protagonists and inner conflicts in the group may cause big problems since now they don't share the same worldviews and dreams anymore and have a life outside of each other.

I think the theme of this new arc will be focused on finding the balance between dreams and real life, passion and responsibility and becoming your own person while keeping in touch with your roots.

If you read until here thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed it! If you have anything about this post that you would like to discuss I always welcome it <3