HElp SAME ALIEN STAGE IS CHANGING MY BRAIN CHEMISTEY LMFAO

Ivan moment frfr???

A rambling analysis of Ivan's "Nowhere"

I'll start with my thoughts on the song itself, then break down some of the lyrics.

So, "Nowhere" is quite a bit different from Ivan's other songs, mostly in regards to the melody and his singing. His voice is a lot more... flat, and the pitch and length of the notes vary a lot less. In "Cure" and "Black Sorrow," there's a lot more variance: Ivan's voice goes from soft and low, singing shorter notes, to louder and higher, holding long notes, et cetera.

In Nowhere, the notes are typically shorter, and tend to stay in the same general area on the scale. Ivan's tone stays very consistent; in his other songs, it goes from calm and collected to full of emotion and feelings. He sounds a lot more monotone in Nowhere, and not just because he's singing quietly. He's not entirely apathetic; there's still a lot of emotion in his voice. But it's muted. Numb.

The only line that lacks this somewhat monotone, apathetic tone is "In love with you, when you were mine." This line is EVERYWHERE, and plays in the background of the ENTIRE TRACK.

And all of this kind of makes sense. "Black Sorrow" and "Cure" were both declarations of Ivan's love, and his feelings for Till. They were meant to be heard; they were meant to have an audience in Till. Ivan was projecting his emotions outwards.

"Nowhere" was not meant to be heard by anyone but Ivan himself—not even Till. It represented Ivan's internal thoughts, ones he would never say to anyone else—sort of how like someone might find certain things about a friend or significant other annoying, but choose not to say anything despite thinking it. Ivan is tired, and perhaps even a bit annoyed. He's wondering why Till doesn't return his feelings, and likely, wondering why he himself continues to love Till despite that.

Now, onto the lyrics (English translation b/c my Korean is awful):

That's just the kind of kid he is, so laugh Laugh, because he can't do anything No one cares about someone like him There's nowhere in the world for him to rest

It's been stated (see image below) that Ivan feels like he cannot be loved—that he's undeserving of it, or just doesn't have the qualifications. These lyrics are Ivan speaking about himself. Ivan is unable to get Till to return his feelings ("no one cares about someone like him"), and he is also, ultimately, unable to save Till ("Laugh, because he can't do anything"). To make this second thing worse, it happened not once, but TWICE: first when Ivan couldn't get Till to leave with him, and then when his actions in Round 6 ended up seemingly being for nothing in Round 7.

Another bit of the lyrics is as such:

Worse and worse this painful wound I become more and more numb

Ivan is slowly becoming more and more apathetic, and resigned to his fate, saying that "this always happens to me." Even the song's title is a reference to this: there's nowhere for Ivan to find solace, and all of "this" is going nowhere—"this" being Ivan's relationship with Till. Ivan is resigned to his fate of loving Till—almost certainly more than he loves himself—un"till" the end: until death.

This, right here, has got to be my favourite canon art

Its not like its one of those ethereal art pieces, the type those god gifted artist make, but oh dear, I love the symbolism it shows…

The fact that Ivan is holding on to Till dearly and is quite literally an inch or two away from his face with his eyes set on him but then theres Till. He is very much being held by Ivan in place, if Ivan released his hold he’ll fall and yet he chooses not to acknowledge it - too engrossed in whatever is in his mind. He doesn’t seem uncomfortable or anything in Ivan’s arms - it’s like he is completely content in this position.

Ivan’s screaming that he’s here for him, that he wants him but Till is deaf.

Ivans position symbolises how hes always looking out for Till and protecting him (like taking off his muzzle and collar, releasing him from those solitary confinements, freaking help him escape their hell-) whereas Till doesnt acknowledge this - or dare i say refuses to do so - despite being dependant on Ivan to keep him from falling and is always focused on Mizi instead (he barely looked at Ivan in all of his flashback scenes)

And when Ivan let go of Till, he fell and he realised the anchor Ivan posed as and his significance in his life. (Ivan died and Till was left distraught and depressed - and he was thinking about him throughout round 7)

One of my newer OCs. Her name is Kyrie (Kai-ree), Kai for short. Originally Kairi but not sure if the spelling is clear enough.

Anyways, she's a creature loosely based off of kelpies from Scottish mythology—a water spirit that can shapeshift into an equestrian (or human in some myths) form to lure in potential victims. She enjoys bone collecting and would probably frequent r/vultureculture if she existed in our world.

I'm very happy with how the rendering of the skin and hair turned out, and the effects / texture.

Tingyun~!

Looking at Him

me as a writer

stress

wait I almost forgot to post my Aglaea fanart before the patch tomorrow

breakfast on the express

inspiration is one hell of a drug

wuwa peak character design

(this post is mostly a joke i have tons of designs based off other ppls stuff and i know most of these design elements arent exclusive to hoyo i just find it funny)

dont forget jiyan looking like xiao and dan hengs long lost cousin, but he got jing yuans job

and verina looking like yao yao and nahida's secret sister