#ln jesse
It has just come to my attention that not only do the men have in-game scent descriptions but also official cologne brands. So, here they are:
OSBORN
“If I liked someone, I would say it clearly in person.”
Bergamote 22 started its life under the code name “Fire Cologne”, and as soon as we smelled the unexpected effervescent spiciness of its top notes, we knew why. Subtle but noticeable, the piquancy of nutmeg puts a twist on the classic citrus scent genre. The tingling spice compliments beautifully the fizzy notes of grapefruit and bergamot. The translucent green aspect brought on by petit grain is yet another layer that unfolds on the skin revealing the complex nature of this seemingly simple composition. The gauzy citrus notes are grounded by amber, musk and vetiver. The substantionality of the base notes gives Bergamote 22 weight and rich texture seldom found in citrus blends. A unisex fragrance with an unforgettable personality.
EVAN
“I want to know even more, all those parts in your past that I never participated in.”
L’Artisan Parfumeur — Fou d’Absinthe
Absinthe – the legendary green fairy, that entrancing vixen that brings visions, addiction and madness. Bacchanalian nights on the Moulin Rouge were fueled by this forbidden wormwood liquor that lives on the razor’s edge of bitter and sweet, of cold and hot, of delirium and inspiration. Fou d'Absinthe opens with the steely grip of icy-cool alcohol, enveloped by the distinctive, slightly bitter, unnervingly true note of absinthe, touched with a brisk tingle of angelica. The unique “hot-cold” sensation continues as the crisp, cool bite of anise contrasts with the heat of a cocktail of four spices, before settling into a resinous blend of dry pine, fir balsam and woody cistus. Elegant and mesmerizing, the journey from the initial bracing, herbal sharpness to the deeply sweet and intoxicating mellowness at the end, makes us feel, for just a moment, as if we had actually indulged in contraband. We would follow this green fairy anywhere.
SARIEL
“You want a Valentine’s present? You’re becoming more and more demanding.”
Diptyque — Tam Dao Eau de Toilette
In discussing Holy Grail fragrances with sandalwood lovers, Tam Dao is a name that comes up again and again. While not solely sandalwood, this blend of woods and ambergris features a gorgeous, dry sandalwood note that has earned it a devoted following. The opening is primarily cypress, very green and sharp, with a vaguely industrial feel. Then the blend of exotic incense-like sandalwood and softer, sweeter rosewood begins to develop slowly. The sandalwood becomes luxurious and creamy, with additional richness from the ambergris. Luminous and tranquil, with a meditative quality – Tam Dao smells a like a precious carved object. Even at its creamiest, it still has that authentic, dry bite of freshly-hewn wood and that transparent quality that is the hallmark of so many Diptyque scents. A must try for sandalwood lovers.
CHARLIE
“I’ve told you already that your fiancé isn’t an ordinary person.”
Penhaligon’s — Roaring Radcliff
The scented thread which runs through Lord George, Clara and Radcliff is rum. Each perfume has a part of that note. In Roaring Radcliff it is the core upon which the entire fragrance is built. The top accord is an over spiced gingerbread as Mme Bugey uses a bit of cinnamon to amplify the warmer facets. It adds a nice twist to an otherwise normal gingerbread accord. Honey sweetens the mix and sets the stage for the silver flask of rum to make its appearance. The rum accord here is made quite rich, a well-aged version carrying a veil of smoke. That smoke deepens into a full-on tobacco. Early on the narcotic qualities of tobacco are well-balanced with the rum. Then vanilla repeats the use of sweetness to ameliorate the boozy narcotic mixture. It all settles down as the night of cake, cigars, and rum comes to an end.
JESSE
“Shh… just let time stop in this moment.”
Maison Margiela — By the Fireplace
The warm, woody scent of a fireplace burning brightly, crackling against a backdrop of a snowy day comes to life in this scent. Spicy notes of pink pepper and clove oil blend with chestnut and cashmeran, evoking the warmth of a winter morning. Subtle orange flower and vanilla notes are layered atop the woody base, adding a subtle sweetness to the scent.
The silhouette of each Replica bottle is inspired by classic apothecary jars, allowing the collection to be instantly identifiable.
Post link
Jesse and Greek Mythology - Character Study (At a Glance)
This is a simple essay to gather my thoughts about the use of Greek mythology with Jesse, and what I think this might mean for his future development.
First, I honestly believe he’s being written as a Greek tragedy:
The usual irony in Greek tragedy is that the hero is both extraordinarily capable and highly moral (in the Greek honor-culture sense of being duty-bound to moral expectations), and it is these exact, highly-admirable qualities that lead the hero into tragic circumstances. The tragic hero is snared by his own greatness: extraordinary competence, a righteous passion for duty, and (often) the arrogance associated with greatness (hubris).
[Wikipedia]
Second, in his personal route, there are two references that support this. In Chapter 1, Jesse plays Orpheus in his musical. In Chapter 2, the story of Hippolytus gets brought up between Jesse and K, his cousin from an exiled branch family.
The TL;DR about Orpheus and Eurydice is that they were lovers until Eurydice died one day. Then Orpheus went down to the underworld to bring her back but under the condition that he could not turn around to look at her shade as they traveled up to the mortal world. In the end, Orpheus turns to look and Eurydice returns to the underworld and then Orpheus dies in his grief.
The TL;DR of Hippolytus is that Hippolytus offends the goddess Aphrodite because of his worship for the goddess Artemis and so Aphrodite creates a tragedy where she makes Hippolytus’ stepmother fall in love with him. The stepmother commits suicide rather than disgrace her son, but a letter after her death accuses Hippolytus of raping her and so Hippolytus’ father prays to the god Poseidon to curse his son with death or exile. Hippolytus ends up grievously injured because of this but, on the verge of death, Artemis appears before the father and clears up this misunderstanding. Hippolytus dies after forgiving his father (in some versions, he gets revived and is then exiled to become king elsewhere).
Naturally, there’s many versions of these Greek stories but, in my opinion, the tragedy that happens in them is because the hero refuses to stop being who they are; they are trapped in their tragedies by the very traits that caused the tragedies to begin with.
For example, it can be argued that in all versions of Orpheus and Eurydice, it is because of Orpheus’ love that he can brave the underworld to get back Eurydice and it is because of love that he ends up looking back. (Eurydice trips and Orpheus turns back to help her, Orpheus cannot hear Eurydice and turns back because he fears he’s been tricked and he wants to make sure she is there, Orpheus makes it out of the underworld and turns around to hug Eurydice but forgets that they both need to be out of the underworld, Orpheus cannot tell Eurydice that he cannot look back but he does so to reassure her of his love when she anguishes over how he doesn’t love her anymore).
For Hippolytus, his worship and honor of Artemis is praiseworthy but it is precisely because his worship gets coveted by Aphrodite that a tragedy gets set in motion, and then it is because he never changes in his worship of Artemis that in the end he dies because of his father.
Now, how does this relate to Jesse? Up to now in Chapter 14 of the main story, there has been this tragic irony of Jesse being the person with the least amount of information about everything going on, and the information that he does manage to get comes from using taboo magic that corrodes his body.
There has been some criticism of the heroine for not sharing her information with Jesse; however, the fact is that both Jesse and the heroine suffer from loving each other so much that they don’t wish to drag the other person into their current affairs. They literally have no idea what the other person is going through because they are too good at protecting each other. Do you see how it’s precisely their love for each other that creates this tragic irony?
However, there is another view of these Greek tragedies. In Jesse’s personal route, Chapter 2:
Jesse: A long time ago someone asked me, if I were Hippolytus, how would I avoid the tragedy from happening? I couldn’t answer.
MC: If I were him… Ah, this question is really hard.
MC: But I think I wouldn’t change my faith to avoid a disaster.
MC: If he dies due to faith, then he can live due to faith.
MC: Maybe the next Hippolytus will be saved by Artemis.
[…]
K: What exactly is Hippolytus supposed to do to be able to live… I don’t agree with your answer.
K: He was cursed to death by his father and his tragedy is because his father was king, so when his father wants him to die then he can do nothing but die.
K: So, he needs to become king.
K: You said one thing wrong, Jesse, my alias “K” does not come from my surname, it stands for “King”.
Jesse: But would the Hippolytus who wants to be king still be that original Hippolytus?
Jesse:Before you even achieved your goal, you’ve already lost your original intention.
Jesse: Those who die due to their faith, will live due to their faith. This is the best answer I’ve heard and I’ll share it with you.
K: Hahaha, this is an answer that’s extremely like Hippolytus.
K: Jesse, maybe you’re the true Hippolytus…
The heroine and Jesse (and essentially the game) believes that remaining true to yourself is not a tragic crime, and that perhaps fate may change one day because of this.
Future development of Jesse? In Jesse’s first trajectory, [SSR If I Am In Disorder], another Greek mythology gets brought up:
He didn’t understand, why did he have to have this damnable talent? If someone else wanted it, then he would give it to them.
Why couldn’t he be a normal person, why did he have to bear so much heavy things?
His father’s expectations, his family’s revival, they were all like heavy shackles crushing his shoulders.
He was like Sisyphus pushing the boulder, climbing up the steep mountain top with difficulty and repeating this futile and hopeless action every day.
Then, in the release PV, Jesse has the line “I will be the one to end the Möbius strip of fate”. In concept, the Möbius strip represents infinity and endlessness because, as you travel along the strip, you actually traverse the entire strip but end up right where you started.
We can see that story of Sisyphus and the Möbius strip thematically mirror each other, where the action taken is futile and endless.
So, putting everything together, what I’m afraid of seeing is that Jesse’s nature of protecting the heroine, but not letting her in on everything that he’s doing, will bring him very close to things that have happened in his life before, ex. the loss of people close to him (the heroine?) or nearly dying himself (his dad’s sacrifice for him).
Of course, given that this is an otome game and we can’t have a male lead die, I’m sure he’ll accomplish breaking out of this repetitive loop and change his and his heroine’s fate somehow (this includes her potential fate of needing to sacrifice herself as the goddess of creation for the supernatural world).
Post link
Happy 1st Anniversary Light & Night! The announcement of a wedding series comes with a lot of touching callbacks of everything we experienced with the men and so I thought it would be nice to point them out.
OSBORN 【Unswerving Vow】
Fun Fact: The 海誓 in the card title likely comes from 海誓山盟 which is pledging everlasting love in oaths as high as mountains and vows as deep as the sea.
Everyone has poems assigned to them and their cards and Osborn has “Put Out My Eyes” by Rainer Maria Rilke.
There are pearls sewn into the heroine’s wedding dress and she has a pearl anklet too, which is probably a nod to his summer event. One of his nicknames now for the heroine is “Little Pearl”.
EVAN 【Meaningful Contract】
His poem is “In My Sky At Twilight” by Pablo Neruda. But did you know that he also quotes Pablo Neruda in his museum date? There he reads out “Every Day You Play…” by Pablo Neruda, which some may find familiar since it has the iconic line “You are like nobody since I love you”.
In the first version, you can see him putting on the heroine’s shoes, which should remind you of Cinderella. In his birthday date and Valentine’s date, there are branches where they joke about the heroine being Cinderella.
SARIEL 【Sealed With A Kiss】
His poem is “Unending Love” by Rabindranath Tagore. Unexpectedly, this is also consistent like Evan because in Chapter 12 of the main story, Sariel quotes a line from “Stray Birds” by Rabindranath Tagore, specifically the first line since Stray Birds is a collection of untitled poems. (By the way, I really recommend this poet, his poems are so good).
Oddly, you think Charlie would get birds in the background of his cards, but Sariel is the one who gets them. His winter card had two birds beside each other watching them and it’s probably a nod to the heroine’s nickname of “Foolish/Clumsy Bird”.
CHARLIE 【Heart of Diamond】
Fun Fact: You cannot convince me that they are not playing with the Engish phrase, “heart of gold”.
His poem is “A Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns.
The caption that goes with his card (not the PV) says “I’ve won this round of Russian roulette” and it’s a callback to the first time Charlie and the heroine met in Chapter 7 and he invites her to play Russian roulette with two pills in his hand to test how far she’ll actually go for her freedom (naturally, both of them were safe).
Charlie always mentions their marriage so it’s not a callback, but his PV line of “The entire universe heard my confession, this time you can’t run away” is just adorable.
Fun Fact2: If you have eagle eyes, you can spot Sherry and her boyfriend on the cake topper beside the mini Charlie and heroine!
JESSE 【Cupid Express】
His poem is “Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art” by John Keats.
He’s brought up Cupid before in his Spain date, even calling the heroine “Miss Cupid”, and talking about being shot by her arrow of love. In addition, Cupid is the Roman god of love and his counterpart in Greek is Eros and well… Jesse has tons of Greek mythology references, so this one can pretty much count as one because the Romans copied the Greek gods.
The caption that goes with his card (not the PV) says “We are perched on the golden arrow of Cupid, chasing the early summer wind” and not only is this another nod to Cupid but also a nod to the “summer” in his Chinese name, Xia Mingxing. Summer is one of his symbols!
Post link
