I Know Most Of Us (including Me) Laughed (quite A Lot) On This Scene Because; Earl Ciel “Sebastian-Kill-Them-All”

Wen Ning: *sends a voice message to WWX*

Wei Wuxian: (texting) I’m a little busy, is it urgent?

Wen Ning: (texting) No, don’t worry, just listen later.

[later]

Wei Wuxian: *presses play*

Wen Ning’s voice message: THERE’S A FIRE—

I definitely read Mo Xuanyu’s “bad” make-up as being intentional. He wasn’t out here trying to look like a pretty, delicate flower. He wanted his appearance to be confronting. He wanted to externalise his feelings. WWX looks at that face and thinks he looks like a corpse and that’s exactly what MXY was going for.

We don’t get a direct look at MXY’s state of mind at all, and other characters think he’s just ~bad at make-up~ because he’s ~crazy~ but actually he independantly invented being a goth. I love that boy.

William and the Fibonacci sequence

While math isn't really the main focus of the story, being a mathematician is still an important element of William's personality and mindset. It's the lens through which he views the world, incorporates experience, and thus gives meaning to things around him.

That's also the reason why I find so peculiar one little remark that he tells Sherlock at their first meeting:

"While that was a slightly forced deduction, you did make quite a good observation. However, rather than the golden ratio, I am more interested in the Fibonacci sequence."

The question is: why in this particular case does William correct Sherlock and specifically point out that he's interested in the Fibonacci sequence, but not in the golden ratio itself? The golden ratio and the Fibonacci sequence are closely intertwined with one another. There isn't any real reason why he would be interested in one thing but not in the other if he were solely curious about the properties of the spiral.

So, maybe, it isn't about the math and the spiral at all?

To answer this question, I'd like to look at the chapter's context first.

In a sense, ch. 5 is quite special by itself, as it represents the point of no return in the story. It has two major points to focus on. One of them is the final introduction of William's grand plan, which he had not revealed in full up until now. Another one is the moment when William meets Sherlock for the first time, or the staircase scene in question.

Now, as William states, at the core of his plan lies "the play of death". He means to turn London into a grand stage, and so, every step he takes is a carefully written plot that has an underlying message and a running theme, connecting one act with the other. Everything is measured and well within his control, as if he were indeed a screenwriter writing a play.

Luring Lord Enders into committing a crime serves to prove William's intention as well. While carefully guiding him to a breaking point, William is even shown to think of each step of his plan as a "scene". And right up to the meeting at the staircase, he ensures to execute this project through and through, not leaving a single possibility unattended, and not a single moment unaccounted for.

In other words, a good chunk of the chapter is dedicated to showing William's approach to what he's doing, as well as to his vision of himself as a director of a play. which he is not, but that's a topic for another time

Coming back to the Fibonacci sequence, it is evident that here it resembles exactly William's grand plan. It's the sequence of actions, or rather deaths, that he intends to carry out. While taking a step back to observe the stairs, he also takes in the whole picture of the stage that he so carefully set, and the actors at play.

But what's even more interesting to me here is the golden ratio and William's lack of attention to it. The golden ratio is an irrational number. It is the limit, towards which all ratios of the sequence must converge, but one that cannot be reached. It's the ideal.

It's William's wish to create the ideal country, or even world, devoid of all humanity's corruption.

So, why won't he look at his ideal, for which he yearns so much?

Being a mathematician, one of William's problems throughout the story is that he's constantly seeking a single, clear-cut solution. He dedicated his whole life to coming up with an equation that could've led him to his desired outcome, his ideal world. And the equation he came up with was that of utilizing the fear of death in people's hearts.

But the reality of a human heart and mind is far more complex for any possible calculation. It's just as irrational and ever-present, as the golden ratio itself.

Seeing how William constantly adjusts his plans, I think that he, as a true mathematician (and a perfectionist to the bone), at one point became far more obsessed with finding the ideal solution for his equation, rather than the end goal itself. On the other hand, he also feels a desperate need to hold every possible thing within his control. And especially Sherlock Holmes, who very much dislikes playing his assigned role in William's play.

But another reason would be that William must really not be able to imagine how this beautiful world of his is supposed to look, as he never intended to see it for himself.

In William's eyes, he's just another one of many numbers in the sequence.

Another devil to die before wrapping up the ultimate solution that he was searching for all this time.

THE ORIGINAL SIN AND TEMPTATION - MILVERTON VS. ALBERT

Moriarty the Patriot is full of religious themes and references and one of them is the tale of the Original Sin. It is told in the third chapter of the Bible, in Moses' first book and it's about how the first humans, Adam and Eve committed the first, the Original Sin due to the temptation of the Serpent who made them eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil what was forbidden for them by God.

Milverton and Albert both bring up this tale - now I will analyze how they look at it and view their actions regarding the Original Sin and how they tempted their victims (at least, in Milverton's case) - Whiteley and William - to sin.

In Albert's case, the Original Sin appears in chapter 63 during the Empty Hearts arc when Albert, after the Final Problem, was imprisoned in the Tower. He views William's fate as his Original Sin, that he was the one who made William the Lord of Crime. Albert loathed the world's current state when he was young and wanted to change it what led to a tragedy. He realized that he doesn't have the wisdom, neither the power to change the world - and that's when he met William and hears how he talks about his ideal world. He adopts William (and Louis) because he thinks that through his noble status, William can do the change Albert wishes for. He admits that he saw Christ in William.

Albert already decided to kill his family by that time but he was unable to do it on his own so he asks William if he would kill for his ideals. In the end, the murder of Albert's family is done by William and Albert's hands and Albert seems to blame himself for it even long, long years later. Not for the death of his family, but to make William a murderer. He talks about himself that he tempted William to sin because he himself was afraid to sin, that it was him who robbed William of his innocence and made him a murderer and later, the Lord of Crime. He even compares himself to the devil for this action.

When it comes to Milverton - whose Original Sin speech appears in chapter 37, during the White Knight arc - he talks about the Original Sin when he tempted Whiteley to sin. However, unlike in Albert's case who talks about his reasons why he tempted William to sin, Milverton's speech is not about Whiteley specifically, just generally about the reason behind temptation - for devils, those who are pure evil, nothing brings greater pleasure than tempting the good-hearted to sin and he himself is pure evil. And while Albert feels guilt and self-hatred for tempting William, Milverton feels pride and joy. For Albert, making William to sin was a mere tool for the ideal world, for Milverton, tempting the good-hearted is the goal and all he does is for that end. That's where the necessary evil vs. pure evil contrast between the Lord of Crime (which is also Albert) and Milverton comes to picture again.

But there are also similarities between the two temptations. While Milverton doesn't compare Whiteley to Christ, he is very much sees himself as a hero and that's what draws him to him, just like Albert became interested in William just because he saw Christ in him. Both William and Whiteley was fighting for an ideal world but while the temptation of William led to this ideal world, the temptation of Whiteley pushed away from it (even when Milverton himself was not against equality, he was after Whiteley because he was good.) Both temptations led to a family being murdered and the target of the temptation committing murder. Both Milverton and Albert talks how they dragged Whiteley and William down from their innocence to a murderer.

(Btw, Milverton here actually says OUR side, not MY side. The importance of that will go for a later analysis)

When it comes to Albert, he feels bigger guilt than his actual crime was (but Albert is after all, like that.) The child William talks about killing the evil nobles, so he already had these intentions in his heart, he already knew that the world can only be changed through evil methods, it was actually not Albert who planted these thoughts into him. William was also ready to kill Albert's family before Albert asked him to do so, so Albert didn't manipulate William into a crime (as he thinks) while Milverton truly blackmailed Whiteley (and Sturridge. And that police officer) into committing murder. Albert also took part in the crime, he was the one who killed his mother, while Milverton uses people to set up murder scenes and doesn't dirty his own hands. Albert thinks his Original Sin through years after the happenings, Milverton is during the actual happenings. Albert probably didn't think that it was like the Original Sin for him back then, Milverton is actively aim for a temptation. And talking about his crime as an Original Sin as HIS Original Sin, the first sin he committed is sensible to do in Albert's case, but for Milverton, what he did was not his first, HIS Original Sin.

So despite that they both talked discussing the same religious theme (and the same art is used) their approach regarding it - while having certain similarities on the surface - are fundamentally different. It was very interesting to analyze this through, I'm sad that we didn't see Milverton and Albert having a conversation about the Original Sin.

“Does Chuuya believe that Dazai is human?”

someone on twitter proposed this question, specifically referencing this scene*:

this scene is so interesting because Dazai is pretending he doesn’t care about what Shibusawa is doing. he’s pretending he does care about reaching executive. he’s pretending he doesn’t have a plan.

everything he does in this scene is intentional, to set Chuuya on track for his plan to take down Shibusawa… which includes riling him up.

yes, Chuuya believes Dazai is human— that’s precisely why it’s such a sensitive subject for Chuuya. he projects onto Dazai what he’s scared of becoming because Dazai is a mirror for Chuuya. when Chuuya looks at Dazai, he sees parts of himself that he tries to ignore staring back at him. (the same is true for Dazai— Chuuya is his mirror)

so Dazai sees this topic as an easy way to get Chuuya mad— to storm off & leave him alone for a few days so that Dazai can go get himself captured (so that Chuuya will have to come save him, putting him in the perfect position to use Corruption & end the conflict once and for all).

but when Chuuya realizes Dazai’s plan (like he always does), he sees through Dazai’s front. honestly part of the reason he’s always so annoyed when he gets to Dazai is probably in part because Dazai keeps pretending to be heartless when he’s really not. Chuuya doesn’t understand why Dazai lets people think he’s “bad” when, in reality, he’s doing something good.

so actually, Chuuya is one of the few people who sees and knows that Dazai isn’t heartless.

he does care.

he is human.

Chuuya’s own projection just gets in the way of him remembering that most of the time (which is totally understandable considering his backstory & the fact that he’s only a kid).

*just for reference, the official translation’s version of those panels reads:

“Well, that was mean of you. I’m human too, you know?”

“Like anyone believes that. Just be glad I didn’t kill you.”

There has been a great deal of discussion about what would appeal to the character of William James Moriarty—what dishes he would enjoy, which types of tea he would favor, how he would sleep, and so on. But let’s focus instead on what he would not like.

The desire to live in aesthetics—have you ever considered how utopian and absurd it is, how pro-capitalist it is, thereby representing a piece of the foundation for class inequality? In our time, every "aesthetic" is nothing more than a consumption product, as everyone who wishes to be part of it is not an innovator but a consumer. It represents the final stage not just of the capitalist social structure but of fading thought. People are divided not only into masculinity and femininity, classes, but into entire groups defined by a particular "aesthetic," which in turn fosters stereotyping and limited thinking.

When we see someone in a classic outfit with the hashtag "dark academia," we automatically assume they represent a developed member of society. Do not mistake my words—this is not about individuals but the bubble they stand under, unknowingly supporting. Many of us are familiar with Donna Tartt’s widely acclaimed novel, "The Secret History." This book did not fulfill its purpose. Fans of the book like to argue and say that it satirizes the romanticization of bourgeois pseudo-intellectual lifestyles—yet it failed to do so. Each of Tartt’s books, which has become a symbol of the "dark academia" aesthetic wave, was not written to embed ideas in the masses but rather for mindless consumption.

The need to "aestheticize" has led to the aestheticization and exploitation of religions, books, writers, incorrect historical facts, and misguided interpretations of literature.

In the term "dark academia," there is a lot of darkness and very little "academia," because currently, the books associated with this category do not provide food for thought. It has become more about ties and suits, shirts and chessboards. No, you can’t be both Albert Camus and Fyodor Dostoevsky—have you actually read their works? Have you delved into their contexts, the conditions under which they wrote, and, most importantly, the historical periods they were writing in? Where they were born and what influenced them? Clearly, no.

And this is where the pursuit of so-called "aestheticism" becomes a catastrophe. It is not done for the sake of knowledge, which should always be shared—bringing something to society. It is done for a couple of photos, a few videos, and a few out-of-context quotes from books.

The very popularization of a book that has clearly failed to achieve its purpose, along with the continued use of "prominent" names in Russian literature, stands as evidence of my argument. This wave of aestheticization is nothing more than yet another elegant veil of pseudo-intellectualism.

This is precisely why I cannot take seriously the fans of William who present themselves in this manner. William would never have appreciated all this decorative frippery; he would have condemned it outright.

mtp characters as birds (1)

so, one day i woke up and thought to myself: what kind of birds mtp characters would've been?

and, well. at that point, there really was no going back.

anyway, now that i have some time to put it onto my virtual paper, here's my little rant on the matter. i typed all characters that i could remember, but in this part there're only moriarty & holmes brothers + john.

WILLIAM & LOUIS: i'll be honest here—of all mtp characters, william was the hardest one to name for me. also, initially the brothers had different species assigned to them (which kinda did pair up pretty well tho), but as i had trouble envisioning will as one, i scrapped it and went with the second option. and for the better ig as it makes much more sense now.

so, all that said, my pick for both william and louis is a pair of barn owls.

ngl, barn owls are one of the long-standing favorites of mine. it was kinda natural for me to associate them with a pair of my favorite mtp characters lol. although initially that association hadn't extended to william, upon some thought i've seen the hidden appeal, and now can't imagine him as anything but a barn owl.

these ethereal birds have a lot of symbolic meaning attached to them, the most prominent being that of darkness, doom, and death. being the lord of crime, both william and louis reflect upon those ideas throughout the story a lot. but another meaning, derived from the owl's ability to see through darkness, is that of wisdom, perception, and introspection, and these fit brothers even more so. also, as the lord of crime, they match another motif connected to barn owls—transformation. this one mirrors william's desire to change his country, and louis' determination to change himself for william's sake and the world that william wanted him to see.

lastly, barn owls are simply beautiful birds, and i just think it would've been neat to include them in the list fsjkfsnkjs

ALBERT: 100% a dove. an instant pick here lol (that actually has little to do with charlie). doves as well carry a lot of symbolic meaning, such as peace, purity, freedom, and love. funny enough, albert shares none of those qualities—save for one. he rejected peace once he decided to follow william to the end. he lost his purity when he took the life of his mother. he refused freedom to atone for his (and william's) sins. love is the only thing that albert has left in abundance.

but that is not the line of thinking that i used here. actually, albert being a dove in my mind is more due to his noble status that he hates than anything else. at first, i imagined him as a white dove, one of those specially bred over the centuries kinds. perhaps, even one of the breeds that have suffered some unsavory consequences of inbreeding. but then my eyes fell upon a luzon bleeding-heart, and—

oh. my. god.

that has to be The One.

the feathers on their chests have a bright red coloration that indeed reminds of a bleeding heart. and that's— just such a fascinating piece of symbolism? that fits albert perfectly??

so beautiful.

SHERLOCK: another instant pick— none other than a crow. crows are highly intelligent birds that are also known for their mischievous and playful nature. they're quite undemanding birds that, being opportunistic eaters, can eat almost anything and thrive almost anywhere around the globe.

when a crow, or one of its flockmates, is disturbed, they'll go to no end in holding a grudge against a person who did so. although sherlock isn't the kind of person to hold grudges, he's still quite fierce when it comes to protecting those dear to him, and hunting down criminals in a fit of hyperfixation on a mystery. moreover, crows are not just intelligent, but very curious creatures too, which, again, is yet another scherlock's important characteristic.

so, all things considered, including sherlock's chaotic yet kind and loyal nature, i can't see him as anything but a crow.

JOHN: he's a cute little goldfinch! tbh i went mostly by vibe and appearance here. but i find the symbolism quite fitting as well, as these cuties are most often associated with joy, cheerfulness, persistence, and light-heartedness. and, well, who could've been the embodiment of these qualities if not john?

there's also a profound religious meaning tied to goldfinches, as they are often connected to the image of christ. as i have no real knowledge of theology or religious art, i can't give any commentary on the matter. but i still wanted to mention this fact, because imo someone who could deal with pre-time skip sherlock on daily basis must truly be a saint lol.

MYCROFT: matching sherlock's crow, he's, of course, a raven. but there's more to that decision than me wanting them to resemble each other.

actually, i think there's no one more fitting to be a raven than mycroft, as ravens are the birds that to this day are used to guard the buckingham palace. specifically, they hunt down vermin that dare to stick their noses into the royal domain. to me, that sounds a lot like our lovely government guy here!

royal associations aside, these birds are usually much calmer than crows and generally have a somewhat cooler vibe around them. and, of course, they're intelligent as hell. sherly and mycky really do enhance each other as a pair of a crow and a raven in my eyes, just like william and louis do as a pair of barn owls.

that's it for now! hopefully i'll come back to make other parts as well and share all these beautiful photos of birbs hidden in my stash too...

Meta on "Thank you" and "Sorry" in MDZS

Inspired out of spite by a post where someone said Lan Wangji not wanting to hear thank you and sorry from Wei Wuxian in the novel is stupid because healthy couples need communication and this is why CQL is better. LMAOO

OK. Before starting I want to point out that one of the themes of the novel and Wei Wuxian's characterisation is the concept of indebtedness and owings . It is one of the reasons why he is so dutiful towards the Jiangs and why he sacrifices his golden core and the reason he resurrects Wen Ning.

The words Thank you and Sorry are very significant in the story and are very explicitly tied to the above mentioned themes. They are the words Wen Qing says to Wei Wuxian in her parting because she feels indebted towards Wei Wuxian as he has protected her and the rest of Wen remnants and even resurrected Wen Ning on her request. Wen Qing and Wei Wuxian have a cycle of debts where they both believe they owe each other. [Just to clarify I don't think it's just indebtedness that defines their relationship but it's definitely there ].In the next life Wei Wuxian uses the exact pair of words on Jin Ling as he owes him for insulting his parents whose deaths are caused by him.

As you can see these words are explicitly associated with indebtedness and owing.

Lan Wangji loves Wei Wuxian unconditionally. He obviously wants Wei Wuxian to return his feelings BUT he does not want Wei Wuxian to do so out of indebtedness or gratitude. Whenever Wei Wuxian says thank you to him, the narration describes as him being tense and sad, the cause of this is as I described earlier and also because in the past whenever they have exchanged these words they have parted on bad terms.

The text is very explicit about this.

"Lan Zhan you're really scared of me telling you 'thank you', aren't you? I suddenly remembered many of the times we parted ways in my past life, I said 'thank you' to you right before. And every time we separated, I worsened the next time we met"

The time they killed Wen Chao and Wen ZhuLiu at the courier station, the time they met each other through the flowers at the towers in Yunmeng, the time they parted at Yiling's Burial Mound. Every time, he used that word to mark a clear line between him and Lan Wangji, stretching out the distance between them.

The word that finally breaks their makeout session in the inn is one thank you from Wei Wuxian where Lan Wangji snaps as he believes Wei Wuxian is only doing this out of gratitude towards him and not because he returns his feelings. It is insulting and heartbreaking to him and he is angry because of this.

When the conflict is resolved with Wei Wuxian's confession that includes :

"... I swear it's not the heat of the moment or joking around like I have done in the past. I'm not doing it out of gratitude either. Anyways, it's not because of anything else. I really just like you so much."

He deliberately clarifies that there are no feelings of gratitude or indebtedness involved in reciprocating Lan Wangji's feelings.

"Between you and me, there is no need for 'thank you' and 'sorry'."

This line by Lan Wangji defines how he views their relationship i.e without indebtedness or owings. So far all the relationships that Wei Wuxian had been a part of have the feeling of obligation and indebtedness, the Jiangs for raising him and Wen siblings for rescuing him and helping him out . Ofcourse he loves them but indebtedness and his sense of duty to repay them are also his major motivations. He takes drastic steps because of this and we all know how they turned out. Lan Wangji doesn't want this kind of relationship with him, the one he had with others in the past. He wants him to be free of ever feeling like that he owes Lan Wangji something.

Thank you and sorry are not just courtesy words here but carry a hurtful baggage and choosing not to use them isn't a miscommunication but freeing from the feeling of obligations.

"Eren, you are free."

today i want to present you Gabi ‘i don’t fucking care about Falco’ Braun:

yeah

she doesn’t give a shit about Falco just at all

bonus: