#feel free to put them out

[midnightkolrath]

Looking over 'Fire Inside' abit more deeply

Well, with my first impressions I put out when the full lyrics weren't out yet and I was playing it by ear....

Well NOW the lyrics are out there, so you know what that means. Time for me to look them over and see what each part may mean...in my own thoughts, of course.

Putting under a Read More because it gonna be a kinda long one. I thank anyone who takes the time to humor me in reading my thought dumps;;

Video note: Visuals show Dante during this first part, so its likely meant to be taken in his perspective...buuut I'll take time to see it in the eyes of both twins, whenever possible. It later swaps to Vergil visually for a section of lyrics too, buuut I'll probably condense both twins there too. I'll color code each one based on how the video had either Dante, Vergil or Both in visuals.

I'm also obviously gonna go over each lyric once, since songs are songs and repeat their chrous, ect. I probably won't note down EVERY bit of lyric, but pretty much ones that I have thoughts on.

I know its been stated that the song is pretty much about Dante and Vergil, buuut some other thoughts/ideas sneak in too.

Also another note: I know this song was made for the mobile game, Peak of Combat, but the fact that it takes place around the DMC3 era with some...[cough] liberties, I'm gonna focus alot on that.

-

Darkened Dynasty Endless Rivalry Meeting Violently You can't change me

[Darkened Dynasty] may be referring to Dante's general thoughts about his father during this point of time, as the setting is based around DMC3. Dante has distaste towards his father at this point in time, even telling Vergil that he "has no father" during their first encounter. He really has sour feelings against his father's side, so he may feel that its on the darkened end for him.

On Vergil's end, it may be him feeling that his lack of power that he feels he has is affecting him in a sense that he feels he can't live up to his father's legacy while also having feelings of failure in protecting his mother. Hell, his whole quest to gain power is majorly in part due to the trauma he suffered following his mother's death and the fact that he had to force himself to grow up almost immediately after his family was attacked by demons. He was 7-8 years old then and had alot of time roaming alone to stir and think about it. The conclusion of him personally thinking he was a failure in several cases to his family while thinking he should take up his father's power because he feels himself best to utilise it....alot of layers there. I could go on more here but we'd be here for ages, lmao

[Endless Rivalry] is obviously referring to the rivalry between the twins. When you think about it, Sibling Rivalry is pretty endless…regardless if its on a lighter end or not. Its always gonna be there, in one shape or form. Of course, by this point during DMC3, the rivalry of Dante and Vergil is at their peak on the goal of just wanting to best the other in pure combat. In the first fight, there's really only aggression with the goal of putting the other down. Of course, it eventually simmers down into a more casual rivalry with a light competitive edge by the end of DMC5, buuut you know.

[Meeting Violently] is pretty much how Dante and Vergil pretty much always meet when crossing paths....the DMC1 prequel novel (well, before Gilver was retconned as a clone made by Mundus), the DMC3 manga and game, DMC1 with Vergil as Nelo Angelo, and DMC5 after Vergil reunites himself. Though the tone is different per each situation, its like they're destined to always meet again this way...though after DMC5, that'll likely change with their relationship slowly turning around.

-

First its Ebony Then its Ivory Making Revelry You can't save me

The [ebony and ivory] lines are very much obviously Dante's perspective, with how he always pulls them out for a fight...buuut seeing as how the twins often clash, I would see this from Vergil's perspective on what he may see while they fight.

[Making Revelry] is a fun one, because revelries tend to refer to parties....which Dante and Vergil quip about during their first fight in 3. Dante jokes about how much the "party" Vergil set up for them sucks, while Vergil responds with how he was "so excited to see him that he couldn't concentrate on preparations for the bash". So this line can be referring to their clash as a "party" they're making together through combat.

[You can't save me]...oh boy. I wouldponder this one for Dante's case, but here I can't help but think about the end of 3 and how Dante was able to save his brother from falling into the demon world. I do wonder if Dante thought, in his perspective that he knew he couldn't save Vergil but he still had to try. In Vergil's case...I think he felt the same. He threw away the sheath to Yamato upon preparing to fight Mundus after all...which usually means that either it wasn't going to be a fight he was going to back down from....or he knew it was a slim chance of victory. He tosses aside Yamato's sheath in DMC5 as well, before splitting himself into V and Urizen....which makes me believe in both cases it was moreso that he knew he likely wasn't going to survive as his full self again...or he wasn't backing down his decision.

-

Can't stop and I will never hit the breaks All nine levels and no matter what it takes All these places and their shadow figured shapes Bouta make their last mistakes There are no more escapes

Now this whole part screams Dante for me, honestly...which I mean, makes sense.

[Can't stop and I will never hit the breaks] is like Dante hyping up to do what he does best in demon slaying. He's usually a loose cannon, especially at this age, so it makes sense.

[All nine levels] is a cheeky one, because its very likely referring to the 9 circles of hell in Dante's Inferno. Which...you know. Is where Dante got his namesake alongside the Divine Comedy. (Well its moreso the poet himself, who uuuh practically wrote self insert fanfics but ya know-).

The rest of the lyrics is pretty much Dante raving about getting to kick demon ass as per usual. Like hell yeah, slay those demons. I could see this as a like on Vergil's end too, with how he's usually ruthless against demons that get in his way.

-

Branches Entwine Through the dark so we can find Ourselves in time

Before we lose our mind

These bunch of lyrics have me thinking on how this may refer to Dante and Vergil's paths always being intertwined with each other as the sons of sparda. DMC3 has a moment of Dante even pointing out that they're the halves of the same whole, with carrying the soul of their father's legacy. So...its like destiny. Even if its not a direct involvement too...Nero came from Vergil, so Vergil's shadow is felt in nearly every game one way or another. (2 is practically the only exclusion but....2 is 2 soo...).

I also wonder if it could also be referring to how the twins may be looking to find 'themselves' in time before their next conflict....before its too late. Dante goes through an arc in 3 to find a reason for himself to ultimately keep going and attempt to stop his brother....and it keeps going from place to place from there. Vergil mainly has his big arc in 5 and pretty much the VoV manga, since V is a part of himself. It took Vergil longer, but with Bury the light, he did manage to eventually find himself again. DMC5 could've ended up in the 'too late' puddle had Nero not intercepted the two, but thankfully that wasn't the case and the two brothers are reunited on a lighter field where they easily could've killed each other.

-

All lain aside It's written in our blood Two souls divide

[Its written in our blood, Two souls divide]. Now this not only has me thinking about the whole two souls line near the climax of the game, but also the fact that the tower needs the twins' blood to open the gate to the demon world. (Also Lady's, but you know, parts of a whole puzzle).

-

Our roots beneath the flood We've lost control Angels with bells do toll No we can't hide The fire inside

[Angels with bells do toll] has me thinking about the tower in 3 and how it has bells which, iirc, represent the seven deadly sins. I think they're also meant to be like angels screaming/singing when rang which uh...I guess its not so much a fun fact, but its what I think of here. Still having that DMC3 ties here, lmaooo

[No we can't hide, The fire inside] is the main chrous and where the name of the song comes from and it pretty much sums Dante and Vergil's rivalry relationship. There's always gonna be that inner fire inside each of them that sparks that very rivalry.

-

Another casualty Done waiting patiently Call me your majesty Don't take too long

[Another casualty, Done waiting patiently] is like...for me, its either referring to the fact that...you know. Many people likely died when the tower was risen up in 3 and how Vergil was pretty much done and set towards his path at that point. OR the many demons Vergil had slain while getting where he needed to go in the tower while waiting on Arkham to let him know that Dante still had and was taking care of his half of the amulet.

[Call me your majesty] has me pondering if its a foreshadow towards Vergil splitting into Urizen, who takes the mantle of Demon King. With V fusing back with him to bring about Vergil's rebirth...he's still technically a Demon King, right? He ate the fruit to carry that title, so...well. I mean. Its not like the demons in the demon realm would accept a son of sparda holding the title, until he'd put them in their place over it. Man, now I'm curious about that. Maybe one day we'll see that in play...maybe not. Its a silly side thought.

[Don't take too long] has me wondering if this is Vergil waiting at the top of the tower in 3 for Dante to come along so they can have their clash...or Vergil's inner thoughts on telling himself not to take too long in gaining the power he wants.

-

It's my reality Under the canopy Of moonlit tragedy I don't belong

[It's my reality, Under the canopy, Of moonlit tragedy] are lyrics I wanted to cover all in a row here. I think they may be referring to how Vergil sees his own reality under the cover of not just conflict with his brother at the top of the tower in the path of gaining power...atleast that's how I see the moonlit tragedy connecting, obviously...but also...the attack against his family back when he was a child took place at night. (Atleast that's what I take from the context of the depiction from VoV), so...moonlit tragedy could also refer to that. Probably thinking abit too hard there, but I can see it appliable there too.

[I don't belong] has me thinking abit on how this may be referring to how Vergil thinks he doesn't belong among humanity (he looks down on them after all early on), OR how he personally feels he doesn't belong with his brother. He did put out an offer to Dante in the DMC3 manga to join him in his personal quest, but Dante obviously turned it down. The lyric kinda reminded me of that. They're all the family they have left for each other, but their souls and goals are so at odds that it just wasn't meant to be....until DMC5 that is. Now they're together through thick and thin.

-

Can't stop and I will never veil my name Buried lights and I've hidden all my shame Will keep fighting till there's nothing left to claim Watch my blade is taking aim And you're gonna end in flame

[Can't stop and I will never veil my name] has me thinking about the lyric from Bury the Light. 'I am the reclaimer of my name'...I'm curious if its a cheeky reference, and I wouldn't doubt it. The lyric has me think that this is Vergil stating that he won't stop on his path to power and never lose sight of his goals...but alas, with how DMC3 ends, he not only ends up losing that for himself but he literally does lose his name. Mundus reshapes him into Nelo Angelo rather than 'Vergil'. So with Bury the Light, and how there's a lyric about how he reclaims his own name, I've kinda always seen that as him reclaiming who he is...especially after his rebirth.

[Buried lights and I've hidden all my shame] is another cheeky Bury the light reference I'm sure. I wanna do a deeper dive on the lyrics of that song down the line, especially with how Casey himself has put down the general meaning and storytelling of it. But here I see that Vergil's trying to bury parts about himself...namely the trauma he's had to endure in his childhood. The "shame" he sees himself having, all to do with that one tragic moment. What matters to him is power and never having to feel so weak and helpless again....as much as he even shoves the real reason for wanting power in the first place. Its why V laments about it in the VoV manga, I feel. Vergil is never one to really show any hint of vulnerability for himself...with us only being able to even see it through V.

[Will keep fighting till there's nothing left to claim] is a lyric I think just generally just fits Vergil. He wants power and won't let anyone stand in his way for his pursuit of it. Urizen is like a VERY clear showcase of that. I'm also thinking about DMC3's ending with him trying to take on Mundus and being so determined to even try. Plus his final fight with Dante and wanting to claim force edge.

-

Inside of me Don't push beneath Now I must prey Don't drift away

These lyrics, I'm like...I'm thinking about Devil Trigger (Which is more Nero's theme, but I'm mentioning anyway due to the lyrics I'm thinking of) and Subhuman....and how there's parts that refer to struggling to control the inner demons inside. I always thought about how Dante, Vergil and Nero have their DT forms and how that side of them is probably hard to control at times. Vergil, I feel, eventually controls it more sooner (Which makes sense since he picked up on getting DT first over Dante).

-

I'm not possessed I just can't rest All trees decay Endless dismay

[All trees decay, Endless dismay] has me wondering like...whoa is this referring to the 'family tree' and how the Sparda family is pretty much just....broken in many respects. Tragically. Part of my mind brings me to the tree in DMC5 but I have a high chance on it not referring to that. :' P

Dante also ends up losing Vergil at the end of 3, which contributes to the whole 'family tree being symbolizing as decaying' because...wow, Dante lost the other other family member he had left. And it affects him ALOT afterwards.

-

I've said before that there's a reason why I like this song and its grown on me and I think I've showcased why abit, hah. Its good when you dig deeper into it, just like Devil Trigger and Bury the Light.

[lazylittledragon]

ok someone please correct me if i'm wrong but am i weird for thinking those 'audiobooks don't count as reading' posts are ableist as fuck????

[deoidesign]

One of my first digital pieces (2010) versus one of my recent ones (2024)

We all start somewhere!

[kusanagihaku]

u hear a knock on the cathedral door & open it to see the ghouls coming around for tricks and treats wdyd 1/2

[quee-r-code]

some hnk art ideas i never manage to finish

[dusty-pistol]

Okay, here's a list of Dialtown character requests/refs that I have done/need to do! I'll make this like a lil series since it's fun =3. Also, feel free to leave requests on this post, too, and I'll add em to the list!

Please read the tags of this post for more info!!

[★ done]

[☆ not done]

Harry Fitzgerald★, Oliver Swift★, Abel Brannigan★, Jerry Gould★, Jake Wilson☆, Karen Dunn☆, Mr. Dickens☆, Theoroar Rustlebelt☆, Stabby (+ Shooty)★, Narrator☆, Fusco☆, Bigfoot☆, Bunny☆, Type/Phonegingi☆,

[fure-dcmk]

you dropped a mention of pandora!hakuba au a little while back in the tags… if i may humbly beg you to elaborate, please say more? 🙏🏻🙏🏻

IM SORRY ANON i been keeping this ask in my inbox since january waiting for the moment i got the motivation to break down the entire AU. well that didn't happen so please accept this comic instead 😭

To summarize the concept Hakuba found a gem in his basement, feeling curious he decides to mimic KID's behavior where he checks it under the moonlight. Suprise! It's actually pandora, and now Hakuba is stuck as a pandora vessel. It's a high stake au where pandora needs to leech the lifeforce of a host to activate its ability. So Hakuba himself isn't immortal, but anyone who consume a certain volume of Hakuba's tears can reach immortality. Hakuba got 1-2 years left to live before he withers and dies. Kaito of course can't accept this and thus tasks himself with the impossible task of extracting the pandora from Hakuba which require an annoying ritual that need him to steal a bunch of different artifact.

[popfizzles]

Animal Crossing Reactions Expression Meme!! (New Horizons Edition)

The original I used to use was made with the New Leaf emotes, and I haven't been able to find one with the NH reactions, so I took it upon myself to make an updated version!

Send an expression and a character and I will draw them doing that reaction! Feel free to reblog as well!!

[original here] by @learntheart

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

Still very wild to me when people try to gotcha Jason with the whole "if you can kill other people for being evil why can't they kill you" when jason is like. One of the most passively suicidal characters I've ever seen. What if man

[amaliatheartist]

What is there between us, if not a little annihilation?

[ratwithhands]

Decided to polish some jacket designs!

Emmet originally received a strait from the League after they thought he posed a safety risk to others and mandated him to wear it. Big surprise, they literally just went to a Unovan hospital and asked if they had any of the old jackets lying around. It's ill-fitting and unpleasant, not to mention the hasty edits they made to his uniform to act as a secondary restraint looks awful. As much as he is still operating as usual, having to walk around in the strait is humiliating and dehumanizing, especially because of the stares from other people.

Of course this crime against dignity and fashion had to be corrected, so Elesa called her designers and offered to make the League Council a more appropriate uniform for him. The only rule given was that it must still restrain as well as the original straitjacket, so Elesa ended up modelling the jacket after a vest and the secondary restraint after a double-breasted greatcoat. It's meant to look like clothing, more like everyday wear than something out of an asylum. It also uses hand covers (i.e. socks) instead of a grossly oversized sleeve to keep the hands restrained.

It resolves a lot of the issues Emmet had with the original, namely that it blends in with the crowd rather than making him stick out. It also has an air of professionalism and formality that the original didn't have. He's much more willing to wear it and keep it on, as well as being more comfortable in it.

I'm struggling to describe this in sentences so as for the differences:

League Straitjacket:

actual retired straitjacket from hospital storage

made of old canvas and leather

uses oversized belted sleeves to restrain arms

uses belts and buckles to restrain upper arms and tighten back

can't fit anything thicker than a tank top underneath

Elesa's Modified Straitvest:

bespoke articles custom tailored to Emmet's measurements

made from stiff cotton and fabric straps

uses belted cuffs and hand covers to restrain arms

uses straps and locking slide buckles to restrain upper arms and tighten back

able to fit a collared shirt underneath

Elesa's outfit also has the added bonus of being more breathable, soft, and being able to function as regular clothes.

Anyways bonus sketch comic:

Dignity restored.

[kyouka-supremacy]

Again the sickness speaking but here's something that has been going through my mind since forever:

I feel like a good way to mitigate a lot of discontent with the doa arc ending and in general the whole Dazai-being-flawless issue bsd has going on is by comparing bsd to Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. Please bear with me for two minutes.

When Sherlock Holmes was being published, people were intrigued and enamoured by Holmes' brilliant and charming, crimes-solving figure. People read the stories for the pure joy of being left gaping at his superhuman wits again and again; they didn't want to see him fail, they wanted to be shocked and amazed by his genius. When Holmes died and then came back, nobody lamented it being unrealistic, because realism was not what people were reading the books for! They were reading to be impressed, to cheer for the hero and then take satisfaction in seeing him turn out victorious. That's the author-reader deal that was made there: to impress and to enjoy being impressed.

As of recently I feel like we've been asking from bsd something it never promised us in the first place. Maybe it's just not that kind of series! Maybe it's more about surprising the reader with how the hero is going to make it and less about highlighting his flaws and insecurities. And like, that's okay! That's why Dazai getting away with it isn't it him getting away with it “again”, it's just how bsd is; in a way, it's what makes bsd bsd.

I think it really clicked with me like it never did before when I watched the last episode of season 5; because the arc ending felt so shocking and unpredictable, very deus-ex-machina trope, a little underwhelming in its lowering the stakes that were there the whole time, and yet so extremely on brand with bsd, I didn't even have it in me to be disappointed. It was so similar to the Guild's arc ending and even more to the Cannibalism arc ending, and maybe it really is just a pattern, maybe it really is what bsd aspires to be, and that's okay too.

Also, I can't stretch this enough: if it's not your cup of tea, that's fine. I can't say it's mine either. But I feel like criticizing bsd now for how it's always been falls quite short, because it really feels like demanding from it what it never promised to deliver in the first place. That's just as far as my current perception of the series goes, though, so feel free to disagree with me on this.

[originalcontent]

I can't find art of my ship anywhere so I GUESS that means I have to make it myself, here are some doodles.

[malenjoyer]

Sorry I’m not replying to messages. I do see them. I’m answering some asks and posting a bit of random thought stuff on twitter but I’m feeling kind of like I’m retreating to my old hermit state of internet usage.

These past few weeks I haven’t had energy to do a lot of stuff. It currently takes a lot out of me to reply individually because I’m trying to secure a job for myself again. So a lot of my energy is put there and worrying about my finances and future…

Thank you for the support as always and I’ll try to respond as soon as I feel I can give a decent response to DMs.

As for art stuff, I thought about starting to post again but due to the recent AI stuff that was released about sketches being converted to lineart easily, I got a bit paranoid again so it might take a while. I’m reading comics between breaks and rediscovering my love for stories so that’s good

[transmechanicus]

Really fucked up that two ppl can care about each other and make their best efforts to communicate and still end up hurting each other so badly they cannot stand to be in the same room.

[mollysunder]

When Ekko tells Heimerdinger, "It's not enough to give people what they need to survive, you have to give them what they need to live", it falls flat to me because Heimerdinger didn't even give Zaun the first part. Heimerdinger and the Council very clearly didn't even give Zaun the bare minimum in terms of support based on the air and water quality alone (nevermind most of Zaun lives in the ground too).

Frankly, the quote applies more to how Heimerdinger treated Topside, overly cautious to prevent the mistakes of the past in a way that can stifle innovation. And it's weird that when Heimerdinger puts it into practice in Zaun it's more him building elaborate toys for children vs utilities that could help out a fledgling community like the Firelights. It's giving neglectful parent that feeds kids sweets to cheer them up instead of cooking a meal.