Dwelling Beneath The Surface

the aglaea sunday combo is horrifying i dont even want to know what her stats will look like in sim uni

silence (and the lack thereof)

+ i did not end up going down this route but i kinda went down a rabbit hole researching the importance of silence in linguistics and found this neat passage from the world of silence by max picard and it made me think of them so i thought id share with the class🫡

Dr. Ratio: I've read 20 textbooks on romance and human relationships. I followed all the instructions. Why does he still think I hate him?

Dr. Ratio: I likened him to a beautiful bird ("The Attini Peacock boasts one of the universe's more jarring songs, and your choice of attire is somewhat peacock-esque").

Dr. Ratio: I complimented his abilities ("He's not awful to work with").

Dr. Ratio: I playfully implied that he'd look better without his clothes ("I keep telling him the flashy outfits are just making his job harder").

Dr. Ratio: I indulge in his whims ("You could easily squash me with just a pinch"—"If that is your wish, I will do so without a moment's hesitation").

His rubber ducky he was talking to all this time: … (can you please be normal for like 5 minutes and just go and talk to him?)

The remorseful player

"HYPE"

Just got Blade today. My team is doing great so far!

Well, as a team, anyway

HElp SAME ALIEN STAGE IS CHANGING MY BRAIN CHEMISTEY LMFAO

I convinced one of my friends to watch it (with the help of their sibling who also watches it) and now all 3 of us are obsessed 😭😭😭

I really wanna draw fanart for it but don't have the time rn 🥲

HI I NEED ALIEN STAGE FRIENDS OR ILL REMOVE THE SKIN FROM MY FACE AND WHOLE BODY

SPECIAL IMPORTANCE TO PPL WHO RP OR DRAW/WRITE FOR THE FANDOM

I'M LOSING MY MIND I'LL TAKE ANYTHING AND NEED AT LEAST SOMETHING TY

If you blink, the joke will be gone :P

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.

Happy Birthday Alhaitham! 🤫📚🎂

+ alternate colors version: