Fanfiction ◣ 𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐋 ◥ | Rookiedom (1 Viewer)

[mysteric]

CIEL

𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐋 (시엘) is a musical duo consisting of Eunha and Yulan. With a wide range of musical influences from their respective backgrounds, the duo's current discography spans from modern classical to hyperpop, citypop to industrial. They debuted on March 15, 2022 under Dalnim Entertainment with album Aqua Dive.
The group name 𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐋 is derived from the members' combined last names and reflects on their dual day/night time/space concept.
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Fandom Name
ㄹER☉
ㄹ from 월 (moon) and ☉ from 日 (sun)
only in the absence of time, absolute zero, can they be one again
the combination of Hangul and Shang oracle script further expands on the theme of timelessness
**the Shang oracle bone script☉ isn't an available glyph, but use that instead of the Greek ☉
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Fandom Colors
#fecdce and #686cb8
represents the colors of the sunrise and sunset
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Group SNS
Twitter: Official_CIEL
Instagram: official_ciel
Weibo: Official_CIEL
YouTube: CIEL
Bilibili: CIEL
Douyin: Official_CIEL
TikTok: Official_CIEL
Spotify: CIEL
QQ Music: CIEL
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EUNHA PROFILE​	YULAN PROFILE​
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Name: Lee Eunha (이은하 / 李銀河) Stage Name: Eunha (은하) Birthday: December 4, 1997 Nationality: Korean Height: 173 cm Weight: 50 kg Blood type: O Birthplace: Incheon, South Korea Position: Center, Main Vocal, Lead Dance . . Trivia: ☼ her representative symbol is a shining sun ☼ hobbies include writing lyrics, composing, and painting ☼ wants to try musical theatre and acting ☼ enjoys reading memoirs and fantasy romance ☼ most admires Yulan's directness and self-assuredness ☼ a music production major in university ☼ if she were to describe herself using three words, they’d be: whimsical, grounded, and gentle ☼ Yulan describes her as mischievous, creative, and not to be underestimated (in response to other’s perception of Eunha as airheaded) ☼ French musicals have a grip on her, she's obsessed with them ☼ has an older sister ☼ can play the piano, trumpet, gayageum, and flute ☼ has a Masters from Berklee for music production ☼ her old SNS handles were o_ltot because that's how the decomposed and rotated characters in 은하 in her name looked like to her .	Name: Xie Yulan (사우란 / 谢宇澜) Stage Name: Yulan (우란) Birthday: August 27, 1997 Nationality: Chinese Height: 170 cm Weight: 50 kg Blood type: AB Birthplace: Linhai, China Position: Main Dance, Lead Vocal, Main Rap . . Trivia: ☾ her representative symbol is a crescent moon ☾ hobbies include choreographing, producing videos and animating ☾ really likes fashion and contemporary art ☾ enjoys reading science fiction and non fiction ☾ most admires how optimistic and free spirited Eunha is ☾ specializes in contemporary dance ☾ if she were to describe herself using three words, they’d be: ambitious, introspective, and perfectionistic ☾ Eunha describes her as witty, oddly cute, and thoughtful (in response to other’s perception of Yulan as hard to get along with) ☾ oddly into Soviet and ink wash animation ☾ is an only child ☾ can play the drum set ☾ award winning contemporary dancer ☾ her previous SNS handles were yuniverses_, a pun on the 宇 character in her name, the added s_ was because yuniverse was taken .

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Debut MV Moodboard

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Debut MV Stills
Love Dive: Panels 1-7
Aqua Blue: Panels 9-15​

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Discography

Aqua Dive
chance encounter
love dive
shivers of sunlight
flickers of light
663
镜花水月
aqua blue
hitman
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R3C0MB1N4T10N
if we all
magician
shinigami eyes
cyber mulan
allone
angel cries
blooming
magnetic rose
end。​

 

[mysteric]

More Trivia :
- both members' names are universe-related (Milky Way for Eunha, ripple in the universe for Yulan)
- the third character in their names are also water-based words (river for Eunha (from silver river/Milky Way), ripple for Yulan)
- they hence joke a lot about being fated to debut together
- they met during second year at Korea National University of Arts in their shared musical elective class and kept in touch online before both deciding to release music as a duo together when both were stuck in Seoul because of pandemic reasons
- Eunha was the one who proposed the idea
- both were semi-active as soloists prior to debuting as CIEL members
- Eunha had a sound similar to Yukika and Yubin; Yulan something more like Lexie Liu and Velvet Acid Christ
- their day concept reflects their music's citypop side; their night side their cyberpunk side
- they started Dalnim Ent themselves with the help of some friends (aka bribed with food)
- if they weren’t musicians, both agree that they’d still be involved in the music business, either on the production and post-production side or on the business side
- most would believe that Yulan would be more in charge of things based on her personality; it’s actually Eunha who acts as their pseudo manager most of the time (Yulan’s just there to calculate their finances and logistics)
- both are absolute video game nerds; they draw most inspiration from film and literature though
- for more fun facts, check out their interview with 8202 Magazine here
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More Info:
- all sources for content I did not create are linked in the images, all gifs were made and edited by me
- Aqua Dive has both Aqua Blue and Love Dive as titles for a double title situation
- the MV is one video though: Love Dive in the "day" half of the narrative, Aqua Blue for the "night" half
- the first half of the MV is more Chungking Express inspired while the second half more Fallen Angels (CIEL are massive WKW nerds)
- their second album R3C0MB1N4T10N, named after the recombination epoch of the early universe, was more of an experiment that they threw together from hyperpop, dream pop, glitch pop, and other electronic influences, courtesy of Eunha who wanted to play around more with maximalist and avant garde sounds
- fun fact about R3C0MB1N4T10N: the sum of all the numbers individually is 9, the sum of songs in the album

 

[mysteric]

☼ Aqua Dive Album Details ☾
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About the Album
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Aqua Dive is the debut studio album of musical duo CIEL, blending together dream pop, R&B, indie, EDM and London dubstep influences on top of its Wong Kar Wai intertextuality. Simply put, it is an album chronicling the early stages of a new relationship: from the initial hesitance in chance encounter to the drunkenness in flickers of light to the questioning phase in hitman. Aqua Dive begins with the instrumental chance encounter featuring an understated and halting melody. Next is title track love dive, continuing the dark yet bright atmosphere of the album. With its heavier synth line in the bass, it offers a bright but still grounded outlook to this rapidly developing relationship. love dive is followed by shivers of sunlight, another modern yet nostalgic dance track. flickers of light is next in the album, featuring a crisp percussive groove. A nod to Cop 663 from Chungking Express, 663 retains much of the movie's romantic dreaminess as the relationship settles in. If the first half of the album represented the dawn of a new relationship, then 663 is when it enters its dusk. With its hypnotizing and dizzying beat, EDM and dubstep influences start becoming more apparent in the next track 镜花水月. Followed by 镜花水月 is Aqua Dive's other title track aqua blue. Similar to love dive, it continues the theme of love as a journey to dive into; however, this time in a darker and more sinister way with its sleeker production. Finally, Aqua Dive ends with instrumental outro hitman, another ode to Wong Kar Wai. Like the hitman in Fallen Angels, perhaps the relationship was doomed to die from the beginning.
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Tracklist
chance encounter
love dive
shivers of sunlight
flickers of light
663
镜花水月
aqua blue
hitman
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Playlist Link​

 

[mysteric]

Announcement
On May 1st, at 11:06, CIEL will be performing at their debut showcase The Planck Epoch at the Formtec WorksHall. Due to capacity constraints and public health concerns, the showcase will be only open for media and selected fans selected through a random raffle. The showcase will, however, be streamed live on multiple platforms such as YouTube, VLive, and Bilibili; no video recording will be permitted at the live showcase.
The Planck Epoch is the first era of the Universe in Big Bang cosmology where all known forces were most likely unified and concentrated together. Although in the grander scheme of their career this debut showcase will be but a quick moment, like the Planck Epoch, the showcase is important in that it sets up the rest of their group career. Through the showcase CIEL also aims to show how, in that moment, they can strive for their new beginning together.
The location of Formtec WorksHall was ultimately chosen for its more intimate ambience that better fitted CIEL's image.
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Location
Formtec WorksHall
서울특별시 마포구 잔다리로3길 34 스페이스맘빌딩 1층
empty stage with soft white lights, 75 seats total instead of the 100 capacity limit
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Setlist
all performances are done with as empty a stage as possible
INTRO
introduction video plays as audience filters in
the video is narrated by both members, indie art house style
inspiration videos: x, y, z
ACT I
reflets dans l'eau「 piano 」Eunha Solo
流痕「 dance 」Yulan Solo
chance encounter「 piano 」Eunha Solo
ACT II
MC time, CIEL introduces themselves and their music
talk about their conceptualization and artistic direction (basically 8202 interview)
during this time, the stage crew sets up for the next act in the background
ACT III
love dive「 vocals 」CIEL performance
flickers of light「 vocals 」CIEL performance
663「 vocals 」CIEL performance
aqua blue「 vocals 」CIEL performance
ACT IV
MC time, live Q&A segment with the crowd
special guest aka industry friends appearances (producers, smaller idols, dancers)
tease some unreleased/incomplete songs for the fun of it (deep down, neon)
casual covers of love poem and 私が必要なのは時間
backstage prep for the set
ACT V
hitman「 set 」Yulan Solo
abittipsy「 vocal 」Eunha Solo
space cadet「 set 」Yulan Solo
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Outfits
curated outfits from their personal wardrobes
similar to their image, CIEL aimed to support independent designers with unique pieces​

Eunha​	Yulan
☼ OZLANA Lost Princess Bustier ☼ SHUSHU/TONG White Polyester Mini Skirt ☼ Koi Footwear Sweet Attitude White Platform Heels ☼ Jam Inc the liquid diamond earrings ☼ creepyyeha Vic Choker ☼ unistella pearl nails ☼ Yang Chaoyue by Xu Zhiqi (look 1) ​	☾ La Lune Irene Dress ☾ KACIMI Latamène PARASITE Heels ☾ Jae Kim fairy earrings 05 ☾ YVMIN ElectricGirl Handmade Heart Chain Necklace ☾ Qun by Iria Salgado ☾ unistella chrome nails ☾ 010922 Kiki

Audience Gifts
2 x signed polaroids
1 x pressed sunflower bookmark
1 x pressed moonflower bookmark
2 x member doodle sticker sheets
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Member Messages
☼ It's really the start of a new beginning huh
☾ That makes you sound like some Team Galactic member
☼ Shut up
☾ Love you too
☼ Anyways, back on topic, where was I? Right, new beginning
I'm thrilled to be able to start this new chapter with everyone here today
I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for the early support from my fans
This career switch really did happen spontaneously, and I'm beyond grateful for the interest and courage my early supporters have contributed in my decision
☾ I think everyone here is quite aware of the relatively short lifespan of a dancer
Changing my identity as a dancer into a singer was a big gamble on my part, but I'd like to thank all my fans here for giving me the confidence to do so
I won't let you down, and I think it's safe to say that both I and Eunha look forward to seeing what the future holds for CIEL
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Other Notes
because of CIEL's more exclusive/underground image, I went more simple with the stage and styling
also I think it's interesting to note how their personalities show from their speaking styles in this message but also their interview: Eunha consistently uses the individual "I" more often than not, whereas Yulan more often refers to them as a collective "we"; Eunha speaks with an enthusiastic tone, Yulan is steadier; Eunha is usually the one using questions which reveals how she's less certain in herself and Yulan speaks in mostly affirmative sentences which shows more of her confidence​

 

[mysteric]

Issue 17
April 28, 2022
Always Together But Never Meeting: CIEL on Transience & Permanence
The duo talks music, film, and ephemerality.

Editor: Park Soojoo
Contributing Editor: Seo Jaehun
Translator: Im Jiyong

For the 17th issue of 8202 Magazine, we sit down with CIEL for a chat about music, fate, and what success means to them. CIEL is an up and coming musical duo under Dalnim Entertainment who have made waves recently with their debut album Aqua Dive.

Soojoo: Tell us about yourselves.
☾ I'm Yulan, 26 years old, hailing from Linhai, China. I'm the main dancer in CIEL.
☼ And I'm Eunha, and I'm from Incheon. I turn 27 later this year, and I'm the main vocalist behind CIEL!

Soojoo: What was the trainee process like for you?
☾ We didn't have one. Or at least, we didn't go through one. Before 2020, I've never been in Korea for nearly as much time for me to go through the system either.

Sojoo: I notice that the two of you come from very different backgrounds. Would you like to give us a quick rundown on how you two met?
☼ For sure! I think we met back in... 2016?
☾ 2016, yes.
☼ Back in 2016, second year, when I was still studying at Korea National University of Arts for my Bachelors. Yulan was here on a semester-long exchange for the Choreography department. We both shared a few elective musical classes together, and so we first met there. Then because of how similar our names' naming patterns are, with the whole space theme and water character thing going on, people started automatically grouping us up together, joking that we were fated to meet one another. Maybe we were. Anyways, we started get to know each other that way and bonded quite a bit with some of the projects and assignments, before realizing that we worked really well together as a duo. After that semester was over, we still kept in touch on social media and the like, sometimes she ran over to Seoul and sometimes I ran over to Beijing during the holidays to visit each other. Of course, as we both got busier, those travels became less frequent but we were still communicating on a regular basis between now and then.

Jaehun: What prompted you to come together as a duo then?
☾ We were both releasing music individually anyways, Eunha more so than me, and one day we were like, "Why not do it together?" and the idea stuck.

Jaehun: Why now?
☼ Well, after we both finished our Bachelors, I was gone to Berklee to get my music production Masters, and Yulan was starting out in Shanghai at the Xiexin Dance Theater, so we couldn't really do anything together, realistically at least. She also travelled around a lot for dance competitions, which further complicated things. We were both doing our own thing, before one day I asked Yulan if she'd like to collab some day together when we both were free.
☾ I had to wait for Eunha to come back to the same continent before we could start talking though.
☼ Yeah... anyways, after I finished my degree, Yulan was visiting me in Seoul when the pandemic hit and the lockdowns started.
☾ That's a nicer way of phrasing, "Yulan literally could not go back home because she was broke".
☼ That too, but it also meant that we could finally work on that collab that we had postponed for ages about. And that kind of spiralled into something that was the length of an EP; we have really different approaches to music but we’re also really good at bouncing ideas odd one another and making it work. And since I could make songs and she could choreograph and do a lot of the video editing, we were like, "We could just debut." Like idols, or some sort of alternative idols, you know And so we pulled together some friends, former classmates, you know, that type of industry connections we had access to, to help us start up our own company. And everything just worked out, better than we could've imagined actually. Maybe we were fated to debut together after all.

Aqua_Dive © Dalnim Ent​

Soojoo: Since we're on the topic of your debut, could you explain to us what it's all about?
☼ Sure! It's quite simple actually, the album is about the feeling of diving into the unfamiliar in the early stages of a relationship. The initial hesitance, slight loss of control, but also the thrill and dizziness associated with that feeling of getting so caught up and drunk on all that newness.
☾ Fun stuff.
☼ And if you want to know more… just give our album a listen! I swear it’ll all make sense once you actually get the chance to sit down and listen to it in full. I recommend doing it all in one sitting, the thematic strings will make much more sense that way.

Jaehun: I notice a lot of Wong Kar Wai intertextuality in the music video. What are some of your other inspirations, who do you want to collab with?
☾ We're both huge fans of the Hong Kong golden age stuff. Personally, I'm partial to Faye Wong, her dedication in staying true to herself despite the rapid commercialization of the industry is admirable and I think that's why she had so much mass success: everyone could feel her sincerity behind her releases. She's someone I really look up to. I also like a lot of dubstep, not the contemporary American style, but rather the original UK garage stuff, is another genre that I enjoy.
☼ All My Homies Hate Skrillex~
☾ Exactly. I'd love to collab with Lexie Liu or sudanayuzuyully if we could. I do like guofeng, but can't see myself doing it.
☼ Me? I'm the Leslie Cheung fan between the two of us, but that also might just be from my experience watching his movies growing up. I also really love city pop and R&B stuff: Mariya Takeuchi, Yukika, NIKI, etc. Jazz too, would love to try something like what Silk Sonic has going on, a collab would be cool if we ever hit it that big. I don't know, I think I'd really dive deep into the Jacob Collier side of music if you gave me enough money and time.

A Short Playlist by CIEL: 01 Faye Wong - Fu Zao 02 Cyrus - Junk Yard 03 NIKI - Selene 04 Silk Sonic - Fly As Me

Jaehun: How did you feel after performing on your debut stage?
☼ Happy? Weird? It's kind of a weird question for me because I always thought I would be the one behind the stage, not the one in the center of it all. But I like it, it's a really different feel than in the smaller, more chilled out venues I'm accustomed to.
☾ It felt different to be the main focus of the performance. The videography style was different too. It all felt really alien and new, refreshing almost.

Aqua_Dive © Dalnim Ent

Soojoo: If you weren’t active as musicians, what would you be doing?
☼ I think it's safe to say that we'd both be in the industry somehow, just to different extents. I'm a music producer by training, so I think it'd be hard to see me in other industries at any rate. Probably stick more to behind the scenes stuff, just not necessarily a producer and producer only. I actually took a double major with business administration for my Bachelors for that reason, my goal was to enter the A&R side of things. A lot more creative freedom in shaping artists' sounds and such, pretty much what I'm doing right now just without the performing aspect. Though I think I could pull off being a manager too... maybe in the future. I think it would be a fun experience.
☾ I'd probably still be in dance, hopefully working my way up into becoming a full-fledged choreographer. I specialize in contemporary dance, but have a shallow background in classical Chinese dance too. So unless you have some idol putting out a lot of releases with choreographies in that style, I doubt you would see me all that much outside the theatre. Those other dance shows are a huge maybe, but dance would still remain as my primary career path for as long as my body can handle it.

Jaehun: So Yulan specializes in contemporary dance. Do either of you have any other talents or charms?
☾ I animate too. I also enjoy cinematography, but I'd say I'm still best at dance, followed by animation then cinematography.
☼ I gave away my production background so scratch that... maybe painting? I paint a lot. I think I have decent French too.
☾ It's from her lifelong obsession with Mozart, l'opéra rock.
☼ My French is still decent though.
☾ Whatever makes you happy.

Jaehun: Any other stuff you've been enjoying lately?
☼ I've been really into Shostakovich's string quartets recently if that counts; Lili Boulanger too. I've been binging a lot of Prix de Rome compositions because of her. Outside of music, reading memoirs probably? It's fascinating stuff. I've been trying to get Yulan to read Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 with me, but she's busy with The Three-Body Problem.
☾ Fashion, science fiction, the usual for me. Русалочка, and a lot of the earlier Shanghai Animation Film Studio stuff too. We’re both really into the fine arts, I think it’s safe to say that we both believe that artists have to consume art outside of their comfort zone of creation to truly improve.
☼ There’s only so many ideas explored in certain forms; I feel like once you’re stuck in that feedback loop of ideas and themes you’re stuck there for good. So I do try to actively consume media that I know might not be my cup of tea to at least try and broaden my horizons. Pop music made by pop artists who listen to nothing but pop will not enrich listeners the same way pop music inspired by other art forms with different genre conventions will.

Aqua_Dive © Dalnim Ent​

Soojoo: What are your goals as musicians then?
☾ To be successful. Isn't that what everyone wants deep down?

Soojoo: How would you define success?
☼ Being happy with our output and being recognized by it, no matter the size of the crowd. Commercial success is ephemeral. Artistic pride is forever. Sure the money coming from commercial success can last a lifetime, but if you're not happy with the source of that money, what's the point? If we can't be proud of our output, then there's no real, tangible, success to be had. Success for something we aren't personally proud of cannot be qualified as a success, no matter how much money and/or attention it brings us. It has to transcend these momentary moments into permanence.
☾ I agree. Success has to be for something that we're proud of in the past, present, and future. A simple success in "now" means nothing if it won't be a success outside of this "now". Though we can change the "now" to last as long as we want it to be, the fact remains that "now" is always a temporary moment in time. That's why we aim for permanence, so that we can still be happy with the state of us and our works outside of this "now". Ephemeral success, like ephemeral ownership, is no better than having nothing. At least we're not lying to ourselves that way.

Soojoo: You talk a lot about this idea of time. Could you explain this a bit more with me?
☼ Funnily enough, our group name actually comes a bit from this greater idea of time. Well, space and time more specifically.
☾ Totally not stolen from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
☼ Well to be fair, they kind of stole it from Einstein's theory of relativity, so we can just jump through the hoops and say it was inspired by Einstein's theory of relativity.
☾ Sure.
☼ Anyways, when you think of the sky, the first two things most people think of are the sun and the moon: they're the biggest and brightest objects in our sky and are integral to how life on our planet functions. But at the same time, they never truly meet or touch. They occupy the same physical space, but never coincide. During dusk and dawn they're close to meeting, but they never are fully capable in doing so.
☾ In reality, we're only connected by the physical space we occupy. Like how in the Aqua Dive music video we're always in the same places, but never at the same times. Our physical surroundings are what grounds and connects us.
☼ So on the space-time graph we can change time and place all we want and still be connected and "us". But if we change both, we're no longer "us". And that really is what CIEL is all about. We want to push boundaries, push ourselves to our musical limits, but we also want to stay truly "us", and not just in the philosophical ego sense but also in the musical identity sense. And as different as we may be (like night and day as many may suggest), we want to prove that we can still work together in harmony without forcing compromise, without forcing ourselves to change as individuals. We want to show that despite the surface differences, we as CIEL are always together no matter how it may seem like we're never meeting, that we're forever connected.

Jaehun: Anything final you’d like to say to everyone reading this interview?
☾ Not really, no. I just hope that someone out there will enjoy and appreciate our music.
☼ No matter for how long, I hope that they can appreciate how we are all connected together in that moment.

Aqua_DIVE © Dalnim Ent


Artist
CIEL is a self-producing group under Dalnim Entertainment. Eunha graduated from Berklee College of Music and has intensive songwriting experience, having worked with major Korean and US labels. Yulan is an award winning dancer and choreographer, most known for winning first place in the contemporary dance category at the 18th Seoul International Dance Competition.

Editor
Park Soojoo studied design at Parson's School of Design before entering her career in fashion at MÜNN. Later, she acted as editor in multiple magazines such as SPACE, Graphic, and W Korea. She is the current editor in chief of 8202 Magazine and a frequent contributor at BOMB Magazine.

Contributing Editor
Seo Jaehun is a freelance journalist and pop critic. He is a regular contributor at publishings such as Aesthetika, Koreana, and Variety. Apart from his writing, has also worked in media relations and event organization for corporations such as Naver and CJ E&M.

8202 Magazine​

 

[mysteric]

bunny is a rider would've fit perfectly in here but also sonically it makes no sense... maybe as a pre release

 

[The_LastRomeo]

Whoa, our concept is pretty similar, I hope you don’t mind! This is top tier!

 

[mysteric]

Whoa, our concept is pretty similar, I hope you don’t mind! This is top tier!

i had started editing on the artist thread from last year before reading the rule about it having to be in fanfics
formatting hell was hellish indeed
i think it's fine because while they're pretty similar on the surface, 𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐋's is more about duality and the intersection of these dualities than the strict spatial and time categorizations