Diptych sundial with compass made of ivory and brass, German, 4.6 (cm) x 5.4 (cm) x 4.4 (cm). circa 1595

17th century compass and sun dial (Nuremberg).

▪︎ Pocket compass and sundial.

Artist/Maker: Michael Butterfield (1635-1724)

Place of origin: Paris, France and England

Date: early 18th century

Medium: Engraved silver, engraved brass

check out these fuckin Artefacts i <3 london

QIBLA INDICATOR

Ottoman Turkey, around 1900

In stucqué wood, circular in shape, the inside of the lid painted with an axonometric view of the Haram and the Ka'ba, the indicator including a sundial and a compass, decorated with a diagram of the Haram, and the Ka'ba, indications of the cardinal points, winds, and the main cities of the Ottoman Empire, Constantinople indicated in red, apocryphal signature of Bayram b. Ilyas, the exterior painted with a wind rose and floral garlands.

Artcurial

The Parivrtta Surya Yantrasana, also known as Seated Compass Pose or Sundial Pose, stretches your shoulders, arms, wrists, legs, and enhances your arm strength. This is a challenging pose that is an excellent shoulder opener. Due to the complexity of the pose, it is usually performed only by advanced yogis and is beneficial for those who wish to open their hips.

🔸 🔸 🔸 🔸 🔸 🔸 🔸 🔸 🔸 🔸

🧘‍♂️ Information:👉

1️⃣ Known as:👉 Parivrtta Surya Yantrasana, Surya Yantrasana, Seated Compass Pose, Sundial Pose, Revolved Sundial Pose

2️⃣ Sanskrit name:👉 परिव्रत सूर्य यंत्रासन

3️⃣ IAST:👉 Parivrtta Sūrya Yantrāsana

4️⃣ Pronunciation:👉 Par-ee-vrt-tah SUR-yuH Yan-truh-AHS-anah

5️⃣ Type:👉 Sitting, twist, side-bend, hip opener

6️⃣ Level:👉 Advanced

7️⃣ Focus:👉 Arms, shoulders, neck, middle back, core, hips, hamstrings, pelvic, and psoas muscles

8️⃣ Total time:👉 15 to 30 seconds

9️⃣ Drishti:👉 Toward the sky and over the upraised arm

🔟 Chakra:👉 Manipura Chakra, Swadisthana Chakra, Muladhara Chakra

💡 Indications:👉 Respiratory system, abdominal organs, liver and kidneys, digestion, hamstrings, pelvic muscles, spinal column

💡 Preparatory poses:👉 Janu Sirsasana (Head-to-knee Pose), Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend Pose), Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide Legged Forward Bend Pose), Uttana Pristhasana (Lizard Pose), Tri Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana (Three Legged Downward Facing Dog Pose)

💡 Follow-up poses:👉 Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana (Revolved Head To Knee Forward Bend Pose)

💡 Contraindications:👉 Back, groin, shoulder, or hamstring injuries, slipped disc or sciatica, during pregnancy and in postnatal stages women

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Compass Of Pirates - Nikolai Lantsov

Summary: Nikolai is given a compass that he was told would solve all his problems, and yet he cannot figure out why it doesn't seem to work. Yes, I am merging with Pirates Of The Caribbean because I fucking can.

Content Warnings: No Beta/Proof Reading.

Nikolai Taglist: @hauntedenthusiasttragedy

The brass points across the centre of the compass are centred by a sundial, which as far as Sturmhond can tell is the most functional part of the compass. He holds the compass in the clutch of his palm, staring at the red arrow as it gently swings between two points, neither of which are north. He had picked it up from someone in one of the markets in the last port they docked in. It was this rocky, mountainous island, just off the northern coast of the mainland. The name of the port escapes the captains mind, but it was some fishing port with a name not unlike a weapon of some kind. But that isn't really important, what is important is the illusion of help this compass had been acquired under. "It will bring you to what you most desire," they had said, "the compass never leads you wrong." He had been dubious but nevertheless he has hope he isn't sure he has a right to, and yet he was finding the outcome very disappointing.

"This thing doesn't even point north," Sturmhond says, staring again at the compass in his hand. Mal shrugs, offering out his open hand.

"May I?" he asks. He hands it over, without pause and the dial spins to quickly into a new direction the moment it touches Mal's palm. Mal watches the dial and follows it's direction. He knows exactly what the privateer has observed, that this compass does not point north, but instead it is now pointing at Alina, who is leaning over the edge of the ship, staring at the way the waves are breaking onto the boats side, creating the white foam of sea spray and she is smiling like she has never seen the ocean before. "Oh, Sturmhond," Mal says, "it points north alright," he chuckles, "true north."

The Captain frowns. "True north?" he questions, staring the tracker down. "What kind of navigational system are you working on Oretsev?"

"The only one that hasn't ever lead me wrong," he hands the compass back to Sturmhond and the moment it enters his hand it changes direction back to where it had been previously pointing. Mal taps the fabric of his shirt, directly over his heart. "I told Alina about true north once, she asked me what scared me most, and I told her I get the most scared when I am lost, but I don't really get lost. Yet, getting lost happens even if you know where you are sometimes. So I told her about cardinal north and true north."

"Cardinal north is a direction on a map," Sturmhond says. Mal nods, not letting his eyes leave the Sun Summoner. "So, as for true north?"

"True north is home," Mal says, sounding more like a poet than a tracker, "it is where you feel safe and loved."

"Miss Starkov is your truth north," Sturmhond says with a nod. Mal doesn't even need to respond to that. "So you think this compass points to what exactly?"

"Whatever you most desire, that's what the translation says on the side isn't it?" Mal says, finally looking at him. "You did see that, didn't you? Since you're always six steps ahead of everything, and ever so flawless Captain?"

He is too eager to test the theory to even care about Mal's teasing of him. He just thanks him absentmindedly and follows the compass forward. "Don't walk off the edge of the ship," Mal calls after him, "or do..."

He spends a good while walking the length of the decking, trying to figure out why the dial spins into a change of direction, seemingly without link. "Maybe you don't know what you want," Mal teases, observing him.

"Doesn't this interest you?" Sturmhond asks, running a hand through his tousled hair.

Mal shrugs. "What use is a compass what would be pointing right beside me all of the time?" he asks. "Besides my heart always brings me back to her."

"You're good with your words when it suits you, aren't you?" Tamar asks, coming to stand beside Mal, bored of her card game and far more interested in whatever it is that has gotten the Captain all pacing and flustered. "Still staring at the broken compass?"

"It's not broken," Mal says, "it's just not helpful."

"A compass's only purpose is to point north, and it doesn't, so it's broken," Tamar argues.

"It's a heart compass, not a compass," Mal says. The Heartrender laughs.

"Those are legend," she says, taking some walnuts from her pocket to snack on. She offers him one and he shakes his head to dismiss the offer.

"Wasn't the Stag legend too?" Mal retorts. Tamar gives him a shrug.

"That means nothing of all legend," is her response, but she keeps watching Sturmhond.

"It doesn't even make sense," he says finally holding the compass up and above his head to see how the dial moves. "It's not pointing to anything, I thought it might've been pointing to Ravka but I was wrong."

"You're suggesting your truest love is a country?" Mal asks, "what kind of excessive patriotism is that?"

"You're not patriotic?" Tamar asks, her tone littered with laughter.

"No," he admits, not feeling pulled down by the admission, "I came here for Alina. She's my flag, my nation, she is the one thing I remain loyal to."

Tamar's question was to sway Mal from paying too much attention to the captains words, but he doesn't throw her a look of gratitude, instead he returns to his fixation on the compass, as it spins to point towards the ships bow. Some of the crew start to appear on deck, changing placement as the time passes, and Tolya walks beside you, as you tell him something out of their earshot.

He takes his eyes off the compass, staring directly at you, forgetting what his original intentions had been, he offers you a smile and you grin back, all teeth and cheer. Even after the days at sea nothing seemed to sway your mood.

Tamar elbows Mal in the side and before her can take issue with it, she nods his attention to Sturmhond, who has lost interest in the compass altogether in your presence.

"Got it working yet?" you ask, coming closer to the three of them Tolya by your side.

"Think it might be a lost cause," the privateer admits, holding the compass down and to his side, as if to hide it's direction from those around you.

"Come on, Captain, plenty have said that about broken things, but often you just need time or the right pair of hands," you say, "show me?"

He hesitates and Mal and Tamar share a look, a look that spreads into matching grins. "Oh, he is not as smart as he gives himself credit for," Mal says in hushed words.

"Most of the time he is, but any heart can get blind sighted, and when the heart is blind, the mind can fog," Tamar says, voice equally low.

You look at him and he is smiling at you like you're a sunrise, like he is seeing you for the first time, and you wonder how he always manages to look at you like this. Look at you in a way that makes your head spin and your stomach twist. You know Sturmhond, and you know the man can flirt like second nature, that no one you've yet to meet have been susceptible to his charms, so you try not to let go to your head. But that's not easy when he looks at you like he has just discovered what love is for the very first time.

He holds out the compass out and you look at it, not reaching to take it from his hands, you move around to his perspective for the dial to swing back in your direction. You lean around him, to get a better look and then stare out at the ocean. But he just watches you, not as much are daring to confirm what he suspects by glancing to the compass.

You move back in front of him, and the dial points to you, and you turn your head to look at the big blue expanse behind. "Compass doesn't know north that's for sure," you say, giving him a wild smile and a shrug. "But I guess it's no better than most of us in that."

"It doesn't know north," he agrees, shoving the compass back in his pocket, "but it seems to know things I should have before now."

"Hmm?" you ask, turning back to him from the waves.

"Nothing, now, tell me, what was so funny?"

Gold Sundial and Compass ring, 1570 CE, possibly Germany.

A few headcanons for my WoL. I'll just dump all the lore I have under the cut.

Lominsan Astrologians The Lominsan branch of Astrology is still a very new and experimental branch of the secretive Sharleyan/Ishgardian tradition. Initiated by a senior Arcanist Skywatcher of Mealvaan's Gate discovering several Astrology texts and star-charts being used as fish wrapping after their daily walk home by the Fishing Guild, the novel idea of using the arrangement of the heavens as the guiding geometry and the familiarity of using astral navigation warranted further exploration. Unlike their distant cousins, Lominsan Astrology has a heavy navigational and short-term predictive bent, focusing on extrapolating the present and past by projecting their current state onto the cycle of the heavens via arcanum and predicting their future state by backprojecting their transformation through the tabulated movements of the stars. This, of course, is incredibly math heavy, having already produced several new mathematical theories and driven at least four (4) Arcanists insane from the long nights spent in the meeting room they've barricaded themselves in. The lack of access to examples of astrologian planispheres, arms, and even decks of cards has required Lominsan Astrologians to make do with jury rigging existing equipment into the vague facsimile of one, both out of necessity and to suit their needs. As such, Lominsan-produced astrologian arms are highly skeletonized and unadorned, and incorporate a minimum of a sextant, a compass, a chronometer, a barometer, a thermometer, a hygrometer, an artificial horizon, and a sundial, with more advanced prototypes incorporating theodolites for more precise surveying and to take advantage of the platform's stability. They still haven't quite figured out the cards portion of it, and many either use playing card decks or navigation star flash cards to varying degrees of success.

Casting Whereas the modern Arcanist and it's derivatives safely channel aether through amplifying geometries written in aetheroconductive inks, the relative nature of the heavenly geometries require that the user finally channel the backprojected aether-patterns through themselves and out into a usable form. As well documented in the many historical texts of the guild, this is extremely dangerous except for the most well disciplined or hardened practitioners. In all astral navigation, the observer is first and final point of reference.

A nuanced but important difference between the traditional Sharleyan/Ishgardian and the novel Lominsan branch is their method of foresight. In the traditional method pioneered by Lewphon, user attunes their aether to the heavenly movements, drawing on the constellations with help from the planisphere and sets of cards to transform it into new properties or predict the future. In the mostly-independent Lominsan method, Arcanima is projected onto the position of the stars, transformed via moving the planisphere, and then backprojected into a new form, with the future collective movements amplifying the aether's power. The upsides is that the 6 constellations aren't necessary, and any combination of the 57 navigation stars plus the sun, moon, and current location may be used. The downside is that, unless well practiced, calculations must be done via dead reckoning (really Euler's method) of multiple celestial objects. The pure computation required, even for an expert assessor, is well beyond what is reasonable while holding back enough aether to kill a man. As such, only short-term projections are possible (no more than a week, a month if lucky), greatly limiting the Lominsan branch from the far-reaching predictive gifts of their distant cousins. Thankfully for the half-mad assessors, by performing these iterative calculations, the aether is "compressed" at each timestep, allowing them to cast spells at a similar strength to their Sharleyan counterparts. Further, by choosing different combinations of stars, different effects can be produced in replica of traditional Astrologian spells. The 6 constellations are also usable as projective stars, and were the first to be tabulated, making them go-to choices in the heat of battle. In addition, this gives the Lominsan branch much better short-term predictive powers of weather conditions than the other branches. An upside the others may find pitiful, but to the Lominsans, it's well worth the effort.

Sundial with compass in form of a gold signet ring, marked with H.C., 1568

art by @regal-bones - original post for above gif - Posted with permission

The Dimensional Pocket Knife

Need a screwdriver? a pen? Maybe a crowbar to open that locked chest? Say no more, the Dimensional Pocket Knife has all you need and more!  ...Well, most of the time.

The Dimensional Pocket Knife starts with 5 charges, and at the end of each day restores 1D4 +1 charges (to a max of 5). Upon use, a player can try to pull a tool of their choice from the pocket knife. They must roll a WIS saving throw, against the DPK's DC of 13. On a successful roll, the player draws the tool they desire. On a failure, the player instead rolls a D100, and draws the corresponding tool from the below list. (NOTE: the DPK works using the rules of Hammerspace, and so can draw tools much bigger than itself from it’s body, e.g, a spear, a crowbar, etc. The DPK itself is the size of a standard pocket knife)

Downloadable version of the below table

1 - Whatever tool the player desires, but a mimic 2 - Ladle 3 - Lockpick 4 - Telescope 5 - Knife 6 - Fork 7 - Spoon 8 - Scissors 9 - Crowbar 10 - Toothbrush 11 - Hairbrush 12 - Ink Pen (ink not included) 13 - Ink Pen (ink included) 14 - Wrench 15 - Hammer 16 - Flute 17 - Handsaw 18 - Pliers 19 - Chisel 20 - Ruler 21 - Trowel 22 - Shovel 23 - Allen Key 24 - Screwdriver - (Head type is randomly chosen by DM) 25 - Wire Cutters 26 - Paintbrush 27 - Toothpick 28 - Hatchet 29 - Nail File 30 - Lighter 31 - Hand Drill 32 - Salt Shaker 33 - Pepper Shaker 34 - Umbrella 35 - Whip 36 - Tuning Fork 37 - Baton 38 - Tree Branch 39 - Spatula 40 - Frying Pan 41 - Can Opener 42 - Bottle Opener 43 - Key - (roll a d10, on a nat10, the key opens the door it is inserted into. On a nat1, the key becomes jammed, and must be forcefully removed from the DPK. In this event, the key cannot be rolled again (i.e, cannot be drawn from the DPK). On any other roll, the key fails to open the door.) 44 - Handfan 45 - Longsword 46 - Dagger 47 - Bell 48 - Grappling Hook 49 - Magnifying Glass 50 - Pickaxe 51 - Fishing Rod (Bait not included) 52 - Whistle 53 - Broom 54 - Mop 55 - Tankard 56 - Bubble Wand 57 - White Flag 58 - Compass 59 - Mirror 60 - Teapot Spout - (The spout pours a random liquid of the DMs choice) 61 - Razor 62 - Whisk 63 - Bouquet of Flowers 64 - Bouquet of Dead Flowers 65 - Walking Cane 66 - 25ft of Rope 67 - Leash and Collar 68 - Binoculars 69 - Tentacle - (Tentacle moves of it's own accord, and does not respond to commands. It is neither hostile nor cooperative.) 70 - Feather Duster 71 - Wax Seal - (Seal is an emblem of the DMs choice (family crest, city flag, etc)) 72 - Extending Grabber - (Has a max reach of 1D10ft) 73 - Sickle 74 - Rapier 75 - Slingshot 76 - Tweezers 77 - Adze 78 - Drawing Compass 79 - Awl 80 - Metal File 81 - Mallet 82 - Hole Punch 83 - Sextant 84 - Calipers 85 - Whetstone - 86 - Tongs 87 - Gouge 88 - 2ft of Colourful Ribbon 89 - Icecream Scoop 90 - Meat Skewer 91 - Thermometer 92 - Small Sundial 93 - Fly Swatter 94 - Smoking Pipe 95 - Scalpel 96 - Spear 97 - Crab Claw - (Crab Claw moves of it's own accord, and does not respond to commands. It is neither hostile nor cooperative.) 98 - Vegetable Peeler 99 - Pinwheel 100 - Butchers Knife

fic of aegon and helaena's reaction to their engagement

Finally clearing some fic reqs from the box - this one surprisingly flowed out of me pretty easily. I hope you enjoy! it's very much angsty with a tinge of a hopeful ending.

—

“It’s not fair!” Helaena hears Aegon say, behind the doors of his room. He scurried away after Mother and Father told them. Mother rushed after him, and she stayed with their father, who sighed with the same old disappointment and resignation that she always knew him to have. He told her Aegon will get over himself; he told her it would be fine.

Helaena is unsure. She has always known this a possibility, but never considered this fully in her heart. Perhaps she was afraid to. She thought they were better, now that they both had dragons, now that they flew together at times. They were supposed to ride together today. Now it is all ruined.

She fidgets with her hands for a while, before bringing one to the doorknob of Aegon’s room. Her fingers glide over it nervously, afraid to fully squeeze on the gold of it. This will be your room, soon enough, she thinks. Her stomach lurching, she twists it open; does she have any choice but to. “This is what has been decided and it is duty all the same—”

“Another one for me to sorrowfully fail you in, is it not!” Aegon yells back at Alicent when she tries to come closer. She flinches slightly, but Helaena’s step inside the room is what gets the both still. Some books are on the floor; a sundial has been broken as well, spilling sand on the red brick of the keep.

Time stops when Aegon’s eyes land on her, and shatter when they look away. Mother comes, arms open to hug her, but Helaena flinches back just like her, blocking her hands from reaching her shoulders. She does not understand it is no comfort. She does not understand that her eyes betray her, that they show pity and tiredness instead of compassion.

Her mother takes the rejection bitterly, as she does. Helaena swore herself she won’t be the same. 

“Can you leave?” Helaena asks her bluntly. Her voice is hushed but poignant all the same. Alicent takes in a jittery breath, and Helaena bites the inside of her cheek. “For now. I only want to speak to my brother.”

Aegon turns around at that, still the same sullen look on his face. She can manage with that; she has handled his sullen face since they were toddlers. Alicent brings a hand to her hair, some protest in her deer-like eyes, but as her fingers trail down the strands of her hair, they find the edge and the end of it only. Helaena only returns a defiant stare, and her mother relents.

“All right,” she finally says. She looks back at her son before she leaves. “Be mindful of yourself, Aegon.”

Aegon grinds his teeth at that, the curls of his hair hanging down a craned head. It’s like a drape, like a divider between them two. Helaena knows her brother refuses to see, refuses to look at many things, hiding from himself; but to Helaena it’s very clear there is no choice but to look ahead. It’s a curse as it is a gift.

When their mother is out of view, the room falls into odd silence. Helaena is scared to step forward, as she is scared to speak first. Her words were never the convincing sort. If anything, they are nearly always disregarded. She’s not sure if she can trust them. 

“Lost your tongue now?” Aegon asks, squinting at her. He has a sort of a twisted laugh to him, when in melancholy. “Enough gall to cast away Mother, but not enough to call me your betroth.” 

Helaena would have glared at him, had she not known him to mope bitterly. “If you remembered calling me my name, I’d consider,” she answers evenly, though her body’s inner workings are anything but stable. I will not be afraid of you, not the way Mother is scared to defy Father. You were my brother first. “You have a fine assortment of names for me.”

He huffs. “Your rebellion is wasted on me, you idiot,” he answers back, looking away. “If you had any concerns, you should’ve raised them with Father.”

“What could I have said, that wouldn’t have fallen on deaf ears?” She asks him sincerely. There’s a burning sensation in her nose and by her eyes. “If my husband’s words don’t matter, what are mine?”

Aegon turns his back to her then. “Go away. Leave me be,” he says, looking at the window. The gust of wind from outside makes her shiver. The air hitting her has never been her fear; it was a joy, atop of Dreamfyre. But the soft breeze makes all of her hairs simmer, rise up on her nape. 

Helaena refuses to leave. She steps ahead instead. “You are the only one that can hear me,” she says, pleading. Perhaps it makes him more scared than consoled. It’s okay; she thinks, even though her tears gather at her eyes. “And I’ll have to be the one who will hear you the same.”

Aegon’s fists clench and unclench, she hears his shaky breath, the way she always hears Mother’s. Mother just wants touch, just wants to be assured, just wants to have control over what she must carry. Is it always the same, she wonders. It’s her only choice to see if so. She reaches for Aegon’s sleeve, clutching it. 

“Aegon,” she calls him, voice somewhat shaky now. He turns to look at her with teary, repressed eyes of his own, trying to control his face. She tries to smile through the tears gliding down her cheeks. “I still want to go to the dragon pit today.”

Don’t forget who I am, who I was for you now. In the free blue sky they don’t fear a thing, even when they must look upon the setting horizon. Aegon looks at her hand on his wrist; his own one coming to feel up the fingers with his thumb. 

“I’d be a bad brother, to refuse you.” He says through a soft sigh.

“And an even worse husband.” She nods, blinking away the last bits of the wetness in her eyes.

“I’m not your husband yet,” he says unceremoniously, and pulls back the hair that hid his face from her. “I cannot sorrowfully fail you still.”

If Helaena has any doubts to what he means, it clears when he goes to his closet and pulls out some of his dragonriding leathers. The stony weight of duty remains looming; but until it grounds their dragons down, Helaena solemnly swears she will not let herself wither under him; so both of them could still breathe.

Mirrored World Theory, The Prefect isn’t the Only Stranger From Another World, and Crowley’s Unique Magic?: A Deep Dive

Hello, my name is Haru, and I’ve returned with a deep dive theory about Twisted Wonderland, which includes a summary of three videos from the great Alai_Legend. This is the third big installment of a series I like to call “A Translated Theory” which you can also check the hashtag on my page to find more theories I’ve posted, which includes smaller, bite-sized theories.

Spoiler Warning!!!: spoilers from the Opening, Prologue, unique magic reveals, Chapter 5, and Silver’s Room are included.

Word Count: 1,082

—

This first theory is about how Twisted Wonderland is a mirrored world and while this seems like an obvious theory on its own, as we go down the list of these three videos, the hypothesis’ overlap in more ways than one would expect: just how many other things have the Twisted Wonderland staff hidden in the story for us?

First, here are some screenshots from this video to demonstrate our first mysterious Twisted Wonderland occurrence: the sunset. In Chapter 5, Deuce and Epel take off from the VDC practices and go to the Beach on Sage’s Island to have a moment to face their strengths and weaknesses. Judging from the map, compass, and illustration, Deuce and Epel are watching a sun that is setting in the east. That’s right: in our world, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. So a mirrored world would, of course, have the opposite, no?

—

Next, we’ll be touching on this video, and why not everything is opposite in Twisted Wonderland, and how the Prefect isn’t finding these irregularities between their world (which can assume is our world), and Twisted Wonderland. There are many things that point to how, regardless of how twisted this version of the world may be, some things mysteriously remain the same as our world. Clocks, for example, are still the same. “Clockwise” is “clockwise” because of sundials, which have to do with the sun rising in the east, so how are clocks still the same in a world where the sun rises in the west? You can see in the pictures below how a clock’s face should’ve been if the technological advancements from sundial to clock followed Twisted Wonderland’s sun-patterns, followed by clocks in Silver’s room showing that 15:30 is still the same as how we’d read it on our clocks.

Additionally, there is also English seen in Azul’s contracts, and compasses with cardinal directions still being the same, despite the etymology of “east” and “west” having to do with where the sun rises and sets. Could it be that the Prefect isn’t the only other-worldly stranger in Twisted Wonderland? Have others from our world traversed to Twisted Wonderland, introducing clocks, compasses, and English long long ago? It’s an interesting thing to think about, for sure.

—

Finally we are covering  this video, which discusses some interesting details about Crowley in the opening scene of the game. (We’ll be breaking down the first six seconds of it.) Let’s run through the images very quickly, shall we? First we see the Heartslabyul dorm emblem in flames, then Crowley appears, with that same emblem burning behind him. Crowley walks forwards, and now we see all the other dorm emblems burning, and the mirror with the Heartslabyul emblem is now seen in front of Crowley. He then proceeds to apparently disappear into a mirror leading to an unknown location. Pause.

If the mirrors haven’t moved, then we can assume that we are witnessing scenes backwards: Crowley isn’t disappearing into an unknown location, but rather going into the Mirror Chamber from an undisclosed location. The Heartlabyul mirror ends up behind him, as he is walking into a portal from a room with floating mirrors, not coffins, suggesting that this is a Twisted Mirror Chamber-like location. At the end of the opening scene (around 1:37) we see a crow flying off into the distance as the Twisted Wonderland coffin closes. We can interpret this as proof that perhaps Crowley has the ability to traverse between two different worlds, and is beginning to wind the tale where a certain someone from another world becomes the protagonist of a strange school…

And of course, mirrors are a very big part of the Twisted Wonderland motif, and thus wouldn’t be surprising if they are integral to some hidden secrets about the world or plot. Most notably, the Prefect is constantly peering into the mirror at night in the Ramshackle dorm to see Mickey, or scenes from a story that tie into characters that overblot at school.

From this, we can look at the world that the Prefect sees in the mirror as the “correct” world, the one where the famous Disney movies we’ve come to know and love have the villains end up falling from grace. Twisted Wonderland is the “twisted” world, where the villains of these stories from the other side are regarded as great sorcerers, and praised for their respective strengths. (With this said, Alai will now refer to the side that Mickey is on as “Disney side” and the game’s main plot location as “Twisted side.”)

Additionally, Thru the Mirror is a short film about Mickey from 1936, and what the Ramshackle dorm is clearly based off of (from the mantle to the coat rack to the easel, everything is nearly identical). In the film, Mickey goes through the mirror and on the other side, Mickey’s furniture has been anthropomorphized. This means: the things that exist on either side of the mirror exist, but the nature in which it exists vary.

Moving on to the speech Crowley makes in the prologue, it sounds very much like what Grimhilde says to her own mirror in Snow White, and one could easily assume that Crowley is speaking to someone. It’s easy to think so as he refers to another person, “you” or “anata” in Japanese. But consider that maybe, these are simply incantations for Crowley’s unique magic (ie: Unwinding on the hot sands, an endless party. Sing, dance! Oasis Maker!) Additionally, the Dark Mirror takes on a form that we do not see again, which is without the face and instead just green flames.

Alai theorizes that perhaps, Crowley is performing a unique magic on the Dark Mirror, which helps to summon you, the player, from the “Disney side” to the “Twisted side.” Additionally, it can be assumed that when the Dark Mirror is questioned about your origins, they do not know since the Dark Mirror is not in the state where it is being used for Crowley’s unique magic. This would explain why the face of the Dark Mirror doesn’t appear in Crowley’s prologue moment.

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If you’ve read this far, thank you so much for your time and attention! I hope you found at least some of this interesting, because I would love to see how the story unfolds, especially after what’s happened in Chapter 7 on the Japanese server! Thank you again, and please follow for more Twisted Wonderland content.

Bellagio is a village on a promontory jutting out into Lake Como, in Italy. It’s known for its cobbled lanes, elegant buildings and Villa Serbelloni Park, an 18th-century terraced garden with lake views. Nearby are the Tower of the Arts, a venue for exhibitions and performances, and the Romanesque San Giacomo Church. Close to rocky Loppia Beach, the Museum of Navigational Instruments displays sundials and compasses.

OK in my search for the pocket watch i also found several other cool things i own :D

firstly, the promised watch

lookit this funky guy go, i got it from a church over in England which i think is cool, i own a bit of god which means I'm better than him. awesome.

then i found my compass/sundial thing, i still haven't figured out exactly how to use compasses but I'll get it one day

und finalmente chose, a cool leather journal that i am yet to do anything in cause it's swag as fuck

(@bugsoda)

Nocturnal: Ligne de foy

Dial consisting of a disk engraved on both sides. The recto bears markings for the zodiac signs, months, and days. On it rotates a circle divided into 29 parts and carrying two indexes; on this circle is a small rotating disk fitted with a gnomon, a compass, and an index with the French inscription "Ligne de foy" [line of trust]. On this side the instrument could be used either as a sundial or a nocturnal. The verso carries the hour lines and a small tilting gnomon. There is a suspension ring. The inscriptions in French and the word "Pign" engraved on the index suggest the instrument was made by a craftsman named Pineau