#AND THEIR SPEECH PATTERNS ARE ONE OF THE VERY FASCINATING ONES

[quatregats]

Having a field day with Ellis's (1889) Existing Phonology of English Dialects discussion of Cockney, I have absolutely no experience with historical English dialectology and therefore I cannot judge the accuracy of his data, but the comments that he's collected are fascinating nonetheless:

[Image Transcription:

§ 2. Walker (1792-1807) and Smart (1836) on London Speech.

These two well-known authors of Pronouncing Dictionaries have each given a section on Cockney Pronunciation. I quote Walker from the stereotype edition of 1814. He enumerates four faults only. 1) postes, fistes, mistes, etc., for posts, fists, mists [mentioned in § 3 under P, p. 228]; 2) interchange of v, w as weal, winegar, vine, vind, for veal, vinegar, wine, wind, the two latter are spoken of as common; 3) not sounding h after w to distinguish while wile, whet wet, where were [now firmly rooted even in educated speech]; 4) interchange of h as art, harm, for heart, arm. There is no hint at pronouncing ā, ō as ī, ow.

Smart in his Hints to Cockney Speakers finds it almost unnecessary to remark on the interchange of v, w. But notes wōōld cōōld shōōld, would could should, [now never heard]; chick'n, Lat'n, nov'l, parc'l, but swivel, heaven, evil, devil, [the last of which is scarcely heard now but in the pulpit]. Other errors he notes as arethmatic, charecter, writin', readin', spīle sīle, for spoil soil, toosday, dooty, perput-rate, affinut-y, providunce, edecation; boa'rd fo'm co'd for board form cord, lawr, sawr, 'and, 'eart, honour, honest. There is no hint of sounding ā, ō as ī, ow. But he says that the ā of "a well-educated Londoner...finishes more slenderly than it begins, tapering, so to speak, towards the sound of e" (ii); and that ō "in a Londoner's mouth is not quite simple...finishing almost as oo in too." These are the ee'j, oo'w of rec. sp. which are quite different from the ī, ow sounds.

/End Transcription]

Also, and I'll just link the page scan (hopefully it works if you don't have a university library login? it's in public domain) of notes from Lackington's 1817 list of London mispronunciations but there's the glorious note on "leeftenant pronounced levtenant [leftenant, now usual]", which really makes you think. Anyways, I just find the historical evolution of Cockney really interesting, because it's an accent that has a very clear stereotyped version for lots of English speakers today, but a lot of those features came about in the mid-to-late 19th century, and it's fascinating to think that what was a defining feature of the dialect (like the interchange of w/v) has just completely disappeared off the map, while the distinct vowels were just not a thing at all. Really goes to show how fast spoken language evolves, especially outside of the standard, and we love to see it <3

[thanergetic-hyperlinks]

Tamsyn Muir's writing beyond The Locked Tomb

Y'all, turns out there's lots of imagery and themes in TLT that Muir was already playing with in her earlier fiction. A lot of it is easily available online, in which case I'll link to it. (The short stories that aren't can also be easily read if googled, to be quite honest—that's how I read The Deepwater Bride and Why the Mermaids Left Boralus). • The House That Made the Sixteen Loops of Time (2011)

5K. Short sort-of-cozy romance (?) with (you guessed it) a time travel loop. Explores a very queer potential relationship. CamPal enjoyers might find a similar sweetness.

• The Magician's Apprentice (2012, Lightspeed Magazine)

5K. This is the one that stopped me dead on my tracks. It features an older, male mentor figure called John (a “very ordinary man” with “dark eyes”) who introduces the young, female main character to magic that has a terrible cost—and to literature such as Lolita. This excellent post by @familyabolisher does an incredible job of analyzing the very deliberate intertextual links between TLT and Lolita.

• The Woman in the Hill (2015, Lightspeed Magazine, originally for Dreams From the Witch House anthology of Lovecraftian horror by women)

4K. Possibly my favorite! It's a straightforward Lovecraftian horror, centered on the image of the woman (is it human though?) trapped in an unnatural pool inside a cursed cave. Chain imagery too. It does something different from Alecto, mind, but you can see links, ways of playing with facets of a strong central image. It's fun to consider how reliable the two narrators are. Here's an analysis and afterthought from Reactor Mag.

• Chew (2013) 4K. Zombie abuse and cannibalistic revenge story ft. an uncanny woman revenant, told from the eyes of a traumatized German boy. I was strongly reminded of Harrow's conversations with the Body. Tamsyn gave an interview on the themes and her intentions. Interesting to read in light of Alecto, I think, although I don't think she's going the same route in TLT: “the idea of post-war rebuilding connecting to rebuilding the body of the zombie; a Frankenstein who once rebuilt doesn’t act as planned or desired. […] I love cannibalism […] it’s innately spiritual […] any afterlife she goes to, he’s going too.”

• Apothecia (2014, published on Tumblr and tapas.io)

Short webcomic where an alien monster tries to corrupt the ruthless human girl who holds it captive. Musings on responsibility and murder, mention of child abuse. The alien's speech patterns remind me of a Resurrection Beast. You get wonderful dialogue like “Murder is a profession. Job. Employment, you tiny leg dog. There you are, walking along. Walk walk walk. Now you are a walker. Good job. Special child. Murder is like this.” Art by Shelby Cragg.

• The Deepwater Bride (2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine)

The opening line is: “In the time of our crawling Night Lord's ascendancy, foretold by exodus of starlight into his sucking astral wounds, I turned sixteen and received Barbie's Dream Car.” Need I say more? Extremely fun. A novelette where a young queer girl from a clairvoyant family struggles with an apocalyptic event while being annoyed by another very plucky girl. Lots of descriptions with nerdy marine zoology terms. Close in tone to Gideon. In the background, someone dies EXACTLY like that one death at the end of Gideon, which makes me wonder what happened to make Tamsyn interested in this particular image. I also liked that Tamsyn is aware of Nightwish. No link, but you'll get a PDF immediately if you Google.

• Union (2015, Clarkesworld Magazine)

5.5K. Very weird, extremely Kiwi story about a town that gets sent lab-grown wives by the government, but they're not made the usual way so they're Weird and people have feelings about it. Fascinating and eerie description of non-human (in some people's eyes, sub-human) women (?) who cannot be observed to have recognizable feelings or thoughts, yet have some sort of inner life. Quite touching, very uncanny.

• Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower (2020)

Short novel (~200 pages). Very funny. I was reminded of Coronabeth because the whole plot is “princess finds herself branching out into decidedly non-princess-like activities”, but other than that—this is a fairytale for adults about people who make eachother worse. No particular links to TLT but a very fun read with some gut punches. Extremely Tamsyn through and through, what with the dubious morality and all.

• Why the Mermaids Left Boralus (2021, in Folk & Fairy Tales of Azeroth by Blizzard Entertainment)

Set in the World of Warcraft universe. Haven't read this one yet, will report back lmao. As with The Deepwater Bride, no link but I easily found a PDF of the entire compilation. It's illustrated!

• Undercover (2022, from Into Shadow, Amazon Original Collection)

Haven't read it either. Will edit once I do.

[revelboo]

First, booo on pains in your hands, boooo! Those need to march right on out the door and quit coming back! (Does voice dictation work for you? Some of the newer ones seem to be better tuned to being able to be a mostly-acceptable substitute for the people I know using them—saying it gets better with their speech patterns the more they use it at least, but I don’t personally know myself.)

When you get a chance AND you aren’t feeling all the joys of being held back by your own conspiringly-traitorous body parts — could we get introduced to Tarn and Soundwave proper in Needs and Wants? Or if you’re not feeling inspired in that arena, I think poor Sunstreaker may be ready to explode, lol.

On another note, I DID IT! I managed to keep my ask to only *two* of your stories, even though I’m in love with sooooooo many I would accidentally repopulate Cybertron with my mech-harem after a single solar year. So. Very. Many. Of. Them. All because of you and your wonderful, scratching-that-itch, must-be-addictive-because-I-crave-it-at-3-AM, emotionally-engaging-character-driven stories.

I love their highs. I cry at their lows. I’m angry with them, I laugh with them, and I fall in love when they do. These are the stories that shoot straight into my heart and burrow into my brain. Your writing is like permanent ink on my soul—it’s uh, gonna leave a mark. <3

I usually don’t bother with the dictation stuff. My southern accent messes them up. 🤣 but, yay, I’m infecting folks with my Cybertronian fuckery

Needs and Wants Pt 6

Wheeljack x Reader, Misfire x Reader, Soundwave x Reader, Tarn x Reader, Ratchet x Reader, Bluestreak x Reader

• There you are. Growling softly as he stills, Tarn meets those frightened eyes and it chains his restlessness. So alien and soft looking. Much too fragile for him. Servos flexing with the urge to touch you, pull you into him and pull the scent of you into himself. And your eyes flick down to his bound hands, your brow creasing. “Don’t worry about me, little one,” he growls, unable to stop himself. Knowing you’re not for him, that you’re an organic and he shouldn’t want you. Need you. That this need goes against everything Megatron stands for.

• Glancing at that lunatic Megatron created, Soundwave drifts closer to you. Drowning in the fascinating chaos of your organic emotions. Because this is nothing like the thoughts of another Cybertronian. Can’t get a feel for your actual thoughts on him, just that quicksilver, maelstrom of emotions. Wants to soothe away that chaos, slide his servos against the curve of your cheek. So small, he could easily tuck you into his cassette compartment if he was full size. Shield you from your anxiety. “Come to me,” he rumbles, stretching out a hand to you. Wants that. Wants for you to come to him, feel safe with him.

• And you want to move closer. They’re all staring at you. Making you aware of them in a visceral way. And the flush of heat that spills through you is shocking and unexpected. Something more than simple attraction, this is unlike anything you’ve ever felt. Horrified at yourself for wanting to get closer. To reach out to touch them. Wondering if they’d be warm or cold under your palms. What are they doing to you? Some kind of alien pheromones to leave you a confused, needy mess? Aching to be touched, held.

• “Stop crowding them.” Snarling at the others, even though he’s also unconsciously moving closer, Ratchet grimaces. You’re far too delicate looking. All soft skin, muscle and bone instead of living metal. Exotic and strange. And you look at him, meet his optics to send hunger twisting through him. Reaching out to offer you a hand, wanting, needing, you to take it. Let him protect you from the others. Be your shield.

• “Look who’s talking,” Misfire mutters at the Autobot, flashing you his best smile when you look his way. And sweet Primus when those shy eyes give him a once over, his spike stirs behind his plating. You’re going to be so sweet, aren’t you? Flaring out his wings for you, he impulsively pulls a cleaning cloth from subspace. “Are you cold?” Because you’re trembling, eyes darting around at them. It’s probably fear, but as he holds the cloth out, you hesitantly reach to take it. Soft fingers brushing his servos and gone far too quickly to make him shiver.

• Watching you wrap the blanket sized cloth around yourself, Wheeljack scowls behind his battle mask at the Seeker. Knowing exactly what the mech is up to. That cloth scents of him and now, you do, too. The Decepticon smirking slightly, wings out to try and keep your attention as his biolights pulse for you. “Are you hungry?” Wheeljack asks, reaching out and touching the back of a soft hand, that contact roaring through him as the other mechs all rumble a soft warning.

• Wheeljack’s touching you and Bluestreak wants to reach out, too. Pull you into his arms and feel your softness against his hard frame. “Hi,” he says, pleased when you immediately look at him. Meet his optics and he’s just met you, doesn’t even know you, but you feel like home and he’s not had this feeling in so long. Wants to cling to it even as the past threatens to swamp him. And he’s reaching as he steps forward, servos curling around your upper arm as your lips part and he pulls you into his frame. Pressing his face against your neck and venting to pull your scent into himself.

Previous

Next

They’re starting to show up. I remember Lucy from last year and I left him a unicorn rubber duck on his step 🤣 he’s probably going to be deeply offended by it judging from the flames and skulls he’s rocking

[ducksido]

Scottish!Yuu

General Reactions

Grim:

“I dunno what half the things yer sayin’ mean, but I like the way ya talk!”

Tries to mimic Yuu’s accent but ends up sounding like a strangled cat.

Loves when Yuu calls him “wee beastie.”

The NRC Student Body:

70% of the time, they have no idea what Yuu is saying.

“What do you mean ye ‘pure dingied’ someone?”

“Why did you just call that guy a ‘weapon’? Is that good or bad?”

Confusion intensifies.

Crowley:

Tries to use Scottish slang to be relatable. Fails miserably.

“Ah, Prefect, ye are quite the mad rocket, aren’t ye?”

Yuu: “Crowley, that’s not how it works.”

Individual Reactions

Riddle:

“STOP CALLING ME ‘WEE MAN.’”

Gets mad when Yuu calls him a “roaster” but doesn’t understand what it means.

Is personally offended when Yuu calls tea “boggin’” if it’s not made properly.

Leona:

Absolutely lives for Yuu’s casual insults.

“Ye absolute tube.”

“Heh. That’s a new one.”

Once Yuu explains what a “bam” is, he immediately starts calling Ruggie one.

Azul:

Hears Yuu use three different slang words in one sentence and short-circuits.

“What... what does any of that mean?”

Secretly loves that Yuu takes their food very seriously.

Jade:

“Ah, Prefect, you have quite a fascinating dialect.”

Purposely mispronounces things to watch Yuu get mad.

Lowkey interested in haggis just to see Yuu’s reaction.

Floyd:

“Hahahaha! Shrimpy sounds so funny when they’re mad!”

Purposely winds Yuu up just to hear them rant in full-blown Scottish fury.

“C’mon, say ‘pure raging’ again!”

Kalim:

“Wow, your accent is so cool! Say something else!”

Is fascinated by kilts. “You guys just wear skirts and own it? That’s awesome!”

Jamil:

Watches in horror as Yuu drinks Irn-Bru instead of water.

“That’s not healthy.”

Secretly finds Yuu’s stubbornness admirable.

Vil:

Deeply offended by Yuu’s casual approach to fashion.

“You call that an outfit?”

“Mate, it’s freezin’, I’m no wearin’ fancy clothes.”

Nearly dies when Yuu rolls up to class in a football (soccer) jersey and trackies.

Epel:

Finally, someone more incomprehensible than him.

“HAH! Now ya know how I feel!”

They just insult each other in thick accents, and no one knows if they’re fighting or bonding.

Rook:

“Ah, mon ami, your language is truly an art form!”

Recites Scottish poetry randomly just to mess with Yuu.

Calls them “my fierce Highland warrior.”

Idia:

“Wait... your country just randomly has huge men throwing logs for fun?!”

Is terrified when Yuu describes the Highland Games.

“And that’s normal???”

Ortho:

Scans Yuu’s speech patterns and still can’t understand half of it.

“Would you like me to generate subtitles for you, Prefect?”

Malleus:

Delighted by Yuu’s old folklore stories.

“Tell me more of these ‘kelpies’ and ‘selkies.’”

Is weirdly happy when Yuu calls him “big man.”

Lilia:

“Och, I love Scottish music!” Proceeds to play the bagpipes terribly.

Tries to cook haggis. Fails horribly.

“LILIA, THAT IS NOT HAGGIS.”

Sebek:

Screams. Yuu screams back. They have a shouting match for no reason.

“WHY DO YOU TALK LIKE THAT?!”

“WHY DO YOU TALK LIKE THAT?!”

Staff Reactions

Crewel:

Impressed by Yuu’s bold attitude.

However, if they call him “mate” one more time, they’re getting detention.

Trein:

Interested in Scotland’s history.

Lucius loves that Yuu calls him “wee man.”

Sam:

Immediately starts selling Irn-Bru at his shop.

“Got some Scottish snacks just for you, my friend~”

Event Character Reactions

Neige:

“Wow! You’re so passionate!”

Tries haggis. Regrets it instantly.

Chenya:

Loves Yuu’s chaotic energy.

Steals their scarf and disappears into the night.

Rollo:

“Your people do what for fun?!”

Faints after hearing about deep-fried Mars bars.

Meleanor & Lilia (when younger):

Meleanor thinks kilts are amazing.

Young Lilia fully supports bagpipe music.

More Random Scottish Yuu Moments

Crowley bans Yuu from using slang because no one understands them.

They start a full-on war over who makes the best whiskey.

Jack learns about sheepdogs and becomes obsessed.

They have an iron liver when it comes to strong drinks.

Punches the first person who insults their football team.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

How do you write a humorous character?

Writing Notes: Humorous Characters

Here are some ways you can explore and develop your characters to make them as rich and comedic as possible.

Base your characters on real people. Characters are fleshed out and made individual by drawing on the qualities of real people you know or have encountered. Real life offers up an abundance of eccentric and dysfunctional people who can become comedy characters. When you have a real model behind the character they become more individual, believable and idiosyncratic. If you don’t have a real-life model (or models) in mind you are more likely to draw on stereotype and cliché. You can draw on a number of real people to flesh out your character picking up on their mannerisms, speech patterns, attitudes, beliefs as well as their biography and life experience. Since you’re fictionalizing, do feel free to do them a terrible disservice and focus on and exaggerate all their worst qualities. And in terms of their biography, if they’ve done three really "stupid" things in the last five years, your character version of them will have done those three stupid things in the last three weeks – or if they’re a real "klutz", in the last three days. Then once you have identified the kinds of stupid things the real person does, you can invent more in a similar vein for your character.

Positives and negatives. It can be brilliantly cathartic to take dreadful people in your life and turn them into comedy characters. Your characters have a problem or a goal and they set about trying to get what they want with their limited skill set. They don’t have the skills, knowledge or ability to effectively achieve their goals, but still they try. (Just like your bad boss). A first question to ask of your boss is: What’s wrong with them? This will be where the comedy lies. All their negative qualities, failings and shortcomings. Have a clear, short list of these issues. This is enough to get started. A next step to ask is: Who else do I know who’s like this? Now you are drawing on bad qualities of other people to make this character even worse. Then having considered your boss’ negative sides ask: What’s right with them? If you really despise them or find them totally contemptible, this can be tricky! They must have some positive qualities. What are they? A balance of positives and negatives makes the character more rounded and engaging – even if the negatives are likely to dominate with many characters, that bit of humanity is important.

Two perspectives on your characters. Here’s another way of looking at your character from 2 perspectives: firstly, describe how they see themselves and secondly how others see them. If there is very little difference between these two perspectives then that would be a self-aware, functional person. The bigger the difference the more comic and/or tragic the character.

Likeability of characters. Often writers get feedback that their characters aren’t likeable enough and yet at the same time there are often sitcoms with characters who behave badly and aren’t obviously likeable. And yet so many viewers have an appalled fascination with the truly dark characters.

Developing an ensemble of characters. Once you have one clear character with strongly defined positives and negatives, to create another character – simply make them the polar opposite of the original character. Comedy thrives on opposites.

Ensemble of Characters. In summary, most successful sitcoms have this dynamic (and some unsuccessful ones lack some element of it):

BOSS – A character in position of power over the striver/protagonist and others – it may be a role or rank or just social status or family seniority. They may have real power or it may just be vested in them by their position but they are inept in some way.

STRIVER (PROTAGONIST) – The main comic character with all their flaws and failings.

FOIL – The more reasonable normal one (usually also a striver) who has to deal with the main striver. Often protagonist and foil are basically on the same side but they can be rivals. Usually the foil is the one the audience can identify with but sometimes they are less obviously likeable.

FOOL – Self-explanatory – the "stupid" or naive and awkward one. Often happy with their lot, they tend to be able to bounce back from the indignities heaped on them.

How to Write Funny Dialogue

Once you have your funny character, how do you write their dialogue? Here are some comedy writing tips and techniques to consider when creating dialogue that is both humorous and convincing.

Quote funny people: In nonfiction writing, one technique for getting laughs is simply to quote people with a sense of humor. When the people around you are funny, you can bring them into your work. They know they are being witty, and you are taking them with you into the essay (or other piece of writing) as part of the humor. In fiction writing, you can create funny characters to introduce jokes into the text in a way that feels natural and not forced. Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, some characters in your story are bound to be funnier than others.

Exaggerate: Stretching a real scenario into the most ridiculous version you can imagine can be another way to get a laugh in nonfiction writing.

Compress: People don’t speak in real life like they do on the page, so there’s an art to writing speech to make it feel real. When quoting a funny person, one of its important tools is compression. By trimming down your characters’ speech, you can convey realistic sounds without dulling the reader. This is important for all types of dialogue, but especially humorous dialogue. A lot of funny dialogue comes from one-liners, humorous responses to situations that are short and punchy.

Keep a diary: Keeping a diary where you write down funny things that happen to you, dialogue you overhear and love, and character traits, will help you see the world differently. Tuning in to your surroundings will open you to moments that could become stories and the parts of your world that belong in your writing.

Be self-deprecating: When you’re writing a scene in which you’re a main character, deploy a trusty humor tool: being harder on yourself than any other character in the story. When you make yourself a relatable character, your reader will feel connected to you. Let go of thinking about how you come across and just try to be honest—learning how to laugh at yourself is crucial.

Twist a cliché or undermine any expectation you’ve set up: Humor relies in part on twisting a cliché—transforming or undermining it. You do this by setting up an expectation based on the cliché and then providing a surprise outcome. In humor writing, this process is called reforming.

Put your funny lines at the end of a sentence or scene: Humor is often a release of tension, so the sentence builds that tension, and the pay-off happens most naturally at the end (the punchline).

Use contrast: Are your characters in a terrifying situation? Add something light, like a man obsessing about his briefcase instead of the T-Rex looming behind him.

Find funny words: Some words are just funnier than others, so make a list of those that amuse you the most. When working with compressed text, word choice is especially important. Wordplay is one kind of humor writing that can make your dialogue funnier.

Manage expectations: It’s especially difficult to make people laugh when they’re expecting you to be funny—never set the expectation that you’re about to try to be funny. It’s much easier to be funny unexpectedly. Make these attempts to be funny a quiet side effect; think of humor as a pleasant deviation from an expectation. Then create a context where laughter is easily produced.

Use body language: A large part of real-life dialogue is non-verbal, and these cues make their way into fiction through the use of stage direction, which is any textual reference to the physical movement of the speakers. The term is borrowed from theater, where such directions are necessary tools to help actors and directors envision the physical set-up of a play. In fiction, stage directions can often do just as much as dialogue to convey a character’s mood, frame of mind, or responses. If your dialogue starts to feel repetitive, put your characters in motion—walking, driving, or distracted by their environment. In comedy, you can use gestures to enhance the humor of a scene, or you can take body language to the maximum of physical comedy: slapstick.

Use gossip: Gossip makes excellent dialogue because people unconsciously dramatize events for the benefit of the listener. They narrate not what happened, but the essence of what happened. When you gossip, your listener suspends disbelief. This is a great way to introduce exaggerated funny stories.

Pay attention to rhythm: Your dialogue should be rhythmic because human speech is naturally rhythmic. When you listen to people having a conversation, they’re creating rhythmic poetry; pauses are filled, sentences are capped by the other’s interruptions, all amounting to a patterned cadence. A play is essentially a poem written for several voices. When writing humorous dialogue, delivery and timing are especially important. Don’t be afraid to rewrite each line of dialogue in your first draft until you get the rhythm just right.

Read your work aloud (to an audience, if possible): Reading aloud is another layer of the editing process—kind of like live workshopping. Make notes on the page as you read, demarcating where the audience laughs and where there is silence. Even without having an audience’s reaction to gauge, reading your work out loud can be an invaluable tool in the writing process. Whether you do stand-up comedy or share a short story at an open mic night or reading, pay attention to your audience’s reactions: where people laugh out loud or where your jokes fall flat.

Use funny dialogue for character development: Dialogue serves the triple purpose of revealing character, advancing plot lines, and providing entertainment. The entertainment part will come more easily if you’re a naturally funny person, but it’s important not to sacrifice character development in dialogue-writing. Dialogue should always be appropriate to the character and should take their point of view, beliefs, and backstory into consideration. People’s desires motivate them to speak, so when writing dialogue, ask yourself what your characters want. Ideally, you will know your characters well enough to sense not only what they want but how they would express their desires verbally. Good jokes often hinge on subverting expectations, and the best jokes—the ones that will stick with your readers—tie into the story as a whole.

More information:

Researching Humor

Linking Sense of Humor to Personality

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ More: Insults & Dry Humor ⚜ Humour ⚜ Laughter & Humour

Hope this helps with your writing!

[pompomchihuahua]

Genya's Role in the Family

So, today, because I never shut up and I love Genya, I wanted to talk a little more about Genya, specifically his role in his family from the little we see of them and the conclusions I've personally drawn from that.

First of all, from what I can gather, it looks like Genya filled in more a homemaker role than a "man of the family" or traditional gender normative older brother role. In fact, it seems like he's taken up the burden of what you'd normally expect to be placed on the eldest sister.

I find it so interesting that in our first shot of the whole family together where they're all sleeping, we can already glean a lot of their situation. But what I want to focus on is how everyone gets their own futon, even Sanemi! Everyone except Genya, who's sleeping with baby Koto.

We know why he's not sleeping with his mama but wouldn't it make the most logical sense for him to go with the eldest? Sanemi is older than Genya by at least five years (21 to Genya's 16 in canon) ergo he would be the most responsible. Or, if you want to be gender normative since this is the very early 1900's, why not with his eldest sister?

Well, first of all, we know Sanemi trusts him above all the other siblings. We know this because Genya is the one he chose to confide in when making the promise to protect everyone. We also know that when Sanemi goes to go looking for their mother, he trusts in Genya to watch over the kids while he's gone. Which brings me to another point.

Just look at how all of them turn to him!

How he cradles baby Koto back to sleep, Genya warning them away from the door just before disaster strikes.

Even in official art, Genya is the one carrying the baby while Sanemi does the hard labor. Which brings me to Sanemi's role. Legally in this time period, he is the head of the house, which means he and Shizu are likely their main bread-winners. In the flashback, Sanemi is the one pulling the cart with the heaviest load while Genya carries a small knapsack.

During Genya's monologue he says this: "My mother was always working, from morning until night. Not once did I ever see her sleeping."

So if Shizu is always working and Sanemi is always working, who's taking care of the babies?

Well, based on how Genya interacts with the younger siblings, I would place my bets on him!

And siblings caring for their younger siblings or just young children in general was so common in rural areas they were called Komori, though they were typically little girls caring for the children of wealthy people. Simply put, by placing the burden of child-rearing on a Komori, you could free up more time for you to work.

And, it's shown that Genya does have the gentleness and patience for it. He's fiercely protective of his siblings (punching the landlord's son for making Sumi cry, standing up the caterpillar girls in One Winged butterfly). The corps record book states that Gyomei helps him regain his "gentle nature", something you'd definitely need for child rearing. He also has the patience and attention to detail needed for it as shown by his love for bonsai.

I find it so interesting that Genya has so many parallels to Nezuko from him being the only survivor out of all the little siblings while the older sibling was away, to the demonic ties to even their gentleness. And I know this was intentional: just like Gyutaro and Daki are meant to show "what could have been," Sanemi and Genya are also meant to be a "what could have been" scenario as well.

But I find Genya so much more fascinating, not just because of how he defies gender norms just from the little that we see from his past but from littlest details of his character. I could make a whole different post just on his speech patterns and how it reflects his emotional stunt in growth and how he's forcing himself to be more of a man to get closer to Sanemi.

He wears his emotions on his sleeve but he's still a private and reserved person, he's fierce but he's gentle. He's a walking dichotomy and just an excellent character with a very interesting ability that I could go on and on about too.

I would like to give a special shout out to @princeblue and boff and bepp and rose and everyone else on the blue corps server! I never would have been able to put these thoughts into words until they let me ramble at them endlessly and they rambled back!!!!!

[hisosisu]

okay here it is

Unofficial Rouxls Kaard Dialogue Guide

disclaimer: i am very much not a scholar of old/medieval/shakesperian english and can't say that i know much of the actual grammatical rules (haha) of it, beyond the difference between thy/thine or you/thou etc. luckily, neither does rouxls. i do not believe you need any prior knowledge of proper old english to effectively imitate toby's style in writing his dialogue, but i invite anyone with relevant knowledge to let me know if there's any hidden patterns/jokes that you can only understand if you do study that field :) i'm simply an autistic with a fascination for analyzing and replicating speech patterns, and a major rouxls fan.

#1: Balance is Key

if you take nothing else from this guide, let it be this! the number one most common mistake i see in fanworks involving rouxls is to go much heavier on the "medieval" dialect than is necessary, which often creates something unwieldy, difficult to understand, and frankly unfunny. when creating dialogue for rouxls, it is tantamount to keep moderation and variety in mind, to create a balanced and somewhat correct-sounding sentence, that flows well and doesn't fall into repetitive consonance (aka using -eth or -est sounds too many times in a row). a handy way to check yourself for this is to say it aloud and check the rhythm. it may be easier in some cases to reword the "base" idea of what you're trying to say, but there is a way to rouxls-ify any sentence, i think.

Example (Base sentence): You worms haven't seen the last of me! Prepare for battle!

Example (Too heavy): Thou wormeths haven'st seeneth yon lastest of me! Prepareth fore battlest!

Example (Just right): Thoust worms haven't seen the laste of me! Prepareth thou for battle!

if all else fails, err on the side of less "medieval" speech rather than more, especially for shorter lines, and feel free to throw in an extra word or two (such as the "thou" added above) to improve the flow if necessary.

#2: Rouxls-Specific Quirks

here is a list of common words or word-modifiers that rouxls commonly uses in canon, feel free to mix and match these and remember that rouxls is very inconsistent with his speech quirks. he does not, for example, use the word "thine" every time he says "your", nor is he consistent about which words he decides to append an "eth" to. it's all done based on vibes and flow, and he would likely say the exact same sentence in a different way on different occasions. these are just suggestions, not any sort of grammatical rule (ha) or language!

"thou"- very common, used in place of "you". similarly, "thy" and "thine", meaning "your" or "yours", though "thine" is used much more often than "thy", disregarding the actual grammatical cases of the words. goes along with using "mine" instead of "my".

"hath"- very common, used in place of "have", though not completely exclusively. in some cases, he will use "have" or "haveth" instead, usually for rhythm reasons. not often used in contractions ("hathn't" is usually just "hath not")

"-eth" as a suffix- very common. this has no meaning on its own, it's just a somewhat common sound in medieval english that he enjoys appending to random words to make himself seem more competent. most often used on command- or future-tense verbs ("prepareth", "solveth", "planeth", "bringeth", etc), or past-tense verbs with no "ed" ("sprungeth", "casteth", etc) but can also be seen much less commonly on past-tense verbs either before or after the "ed" ("appointethed", "checkethed", "kickedth", "wanderedeth", etc). using it with nouns or adjectives most often sounds janky and weird, and isn't recommended.

"art"- very common, used in place of "are" or "is", again not exclusively, but slightly more common than "hath". not often used in contractions ("artn't" is usually just "art not")

"doth"- somewhat common, used in place of "did", "does", "do", or sometimes "is"/"are". sometimes inserted into a sentence when you wouldn't normally use one of the other words (ie "you doth expecte me to complye?"). typically not used in negative form at all, but if it is, never in contractions.

"-est" or "-st" as a suffix- very common. this, along with "-eth", makes up the main meat of his dialect. like "-eth", it has no real meaning, but it is much more flexible in its usage. "-est" or "-st" can be appended to verbs as well ("likest", "completest", "readst", etc), but can also in some cases be used for nouns ("roomst", "fieldst", etc). it's important to use it sparingly with nouns at risk of confusing the plurals, and use it carefully with only certain adjectives so you don't just accidentally use the "most" form of the adjective (for example, if you're just trying to say "small", you don't want to say "smallest", meaning The Most Small). however, one of rouxls's favorite, and possibly most common, usages of "-st" is to append it to "thou" to make "thoust", or to add it to conjunctions/prepositions and contractions ("hadn'st", "won'st", "couldst", "didst", "uponst" "behindst", etc).

"-e" as a suffix, very common. can also be used along with doubling an ending vowel such as n or t if applicable. extremely versatile and perfect for adding a bit of frivolity in more dead parts of a sentence. often used for nouns, both singular ("moone", "kinge", "opinionne", "lettere", "internette", "thise", etc) and plural ("loverse", "puzzlese", "handse", "guyse", etc), but also handy for adjectives ("difficulte", "magnificente", "yellowe", "freakinge" etc), verbs ("defeatte", "carrye", "witnesse" etc) and sometimes even conjunctions/prepositions ("howe", "perhapse", "atoppe", etc). since the game has no voiced dialogue, it's up to you if this change is only for visual spelling or if it carries its own auditory accent.

capital letters in the middle of a sentence- somewhat common, often used for emphasis. most tumblr users probably understand how to employ that effectively and comedically, it's very similar in his speech.

"yon"- not as common, used in place of "the" or sometimes "a". this word is best used in moderation for best comedic effect, as my favorite canonical usages of it are randomly thrown in where you wouldn't even use an article anyway, ie "yon crud" or "yon losers". "ye" is sometimes also used in place of an article, but not as often as "yon".

"lo"- not as common, honestly often used correctly, as an exclamation similar in meaning to "behold", or "alas" (both of which rouxls also employs semi-frequently). almost always placed in front of a sentence (ie "lo, medieval L upon mine forehead") either followed by an exclamation point or a comma.

"medieval"- uncommon, randomly inserted as an adjective when the sentence doesn't feel olden enough, see above for canonical use case ^.

using a colon for a single list item- uncommon. this is a trait most often exhibited by queen, but rouxls uses it infrequently, like in the case of "no, i think: Freakinge Not". most often should be reserved for extreme emphasis, unlike queen, who uses it liberally.

i'm sure this is not an exhaustive list of all phrases and quirks he uses, but it covers the majority of his chosen speech, and mixing and matching these can create very effective canon-like dialogue on its own.

#3: Dropping the Act

while it's very important to not overuse the sudden drops in dialect, aka when rouxls speaks normally for a line or two (ie "GOD. DAMMIT." or "don't worry guys i'll get a refund for that one"), they do happen, mostly when he is overwhelmed, emotional, or embarrassed. all in all, his speech patterns are merely a facade to try and make himself... cooler? more appealing to evil monarchs...? if he's not paying total attention to it, he loses it for a moment and goes back to normal, which shows it is not how he naturally speaks, but while he doesn't often correct himself afterwards, he is quick to get back on the ball again. it might be interesting to explore how he speaks to himself while alone.

similar to the total drops, rouxls does often work modern slang and speech patterns into his fancier sentences too. he uses non-swears like "freaking" and "crud", adds in filler words such as "like" and "um", and exhibits a knowledge of internet slang and meme culture as well. he's just an insufferable weirdo that lives in the modern age, certainly not a genuine olden english citizen, if his complete butchering of the language itself isn't enough to prove that.

Conclusion?

perhapseth this isn't the most in-depth or completely accurate guide i could write, but most of this comes completely intuitively to me, so unraveling it into explainable guidelines was a challenge in of itself! i hope at least this helps some fanartists/writers in the fandom who struggle with his dialogue, as it can be somewhat hard to get a total grasp on. the problem with a character like rouxls is that it's nearly impossible to put solid rules (...ha) on his dialect, since the vast majority of it is based on vibes and sentence flow, instead of anything consistent or correct, and is executed most effectively when it comes naturally. toby is clearly a master of comedic dialogue writing, as evidenced not just by rouxls but many other characters in both games, and it can be borderline impossible to tap into his exact style of humor and flow for fanworks, but there's a rhythm and a pattern you can imitate nonetheless.

the bottom line for writing rouxls is to lean into silliness and comedy wherever possible, which is elevated by moderation and balance, and hindered by overuse and strict consistency. rouxls himself prioritizes melodic flow and sounding correct-ish over anything else, and is just as unlikely to say a butchered, ungraceful jumble of "eth"s and "st"s as he is to speak in fluent shakesperian english, and any actual rules (....) he may assign to himself are just as easily forgotten or overwritten when they're not convenient.

play around with his dialogue, practice by "translating" a line in multiple different ways, and most of all, have fun! even if you make mistakes, im sure toby would be proud of you for trying at all :)

[nanabansama]

you mentioned that the cat (tsukitty, im not 100% sure yet but i also believe its tsukasa rather than amane/hanako) shares some speech patterns more with tsukasa than hanako, and that while tsukasa and hanako have similar speech patterns, they also differ in some ways. would you mind elaborating on that or do you have another post about it? i always find characters speech patterns absolutely fascinating and cataloging all the similarities and differences between the twins is one of my favorite past times. have a nice day!! :3

It's a bit hard to explain, especially in a way that separates him from early!Hanako. This is also going to be incredibly informal. But I will try!

Hanako and Tsukasa have a tendency to end their sentences in katakana and just use more katakana than other characters in general, though I feel like that has dwindled in usage as the series has gone on. They will also sometimes extend words in a sing-songy type of way which is shared with the kitty, or just pronounce things improperly in general.

One thing about Tsukasa is he talks more... childishly than Hanako? Which I feel like is pretty obvious in the English version, too. But there's specifically this trend where he tends to end sentences in ね and な a lot that really gave me a Tsukasa feel when reading the kitty's dialogue.

Compared to kitty:

I will admit though it's not like Hanako doesn't talk like this either...? Like I said they have similar speech patterns that stick out from the other characters. I wish I could explain this better but ultimately it just sounds more like Tsukasa to me, heh. Anyway,

Another thing is that in his introduction, he quotes himself from his first appearance. The first time he and Nene meet in the story no less:

If you look closely you'll notice he says やるじゃん which means something similar to "not bad." He's complimenting her, right off the bat! Coincidence, or...?

For what it's worth I can't remember Hanako ever saying やるじゃん but I will say it definitely sounds like something he could say. The evidence is just stacked more in Tsukasa's favor for this one.

Regarding the laughter, I will admit, he actually uses a laugh that to my knowledge only Hanako/Amane has used: くひひ. It's a very distinctive laugh which is why I remember this. But there have been canonical instances of the Yugi Twins sharing eerily similar laughter so I feel confident dismissing this. Plus,

This アハハハ or あははは laugh is just soooo Tsukasa. Amane doesn't laugh like this very often. He isn't as much of an "ah ha ha ha" type of guy as Tsukasa. It's easier to imagine a Tsukasa くひひ than an Amane アハハハ to me. But still, Amane has done an Ahaha type of laugh before:

...So you can maybe dismiss this too. Just, for what it's worth, Tsukasa certainly goes Ahaha the most.

Honestly I think it does come down more to the cat's personality for me more than anything else. The cat's personality isn't exactly like either of the twins, but the thing that gets me the most about him is the way he treats Nene. I cannot imagine Hanako, in any lucid version of himself, treating Nene like the cat has. But Tsukasa, yes, definitely lol.

Hanako was smitten with Nene from the moment he laid eyes on her, and given the story of TBHK is at least partially about their epic tale of love and romance I find it hard to believe the cat wouldn't be at least somewhat smitten by her? But so far the cat's only felt pity for her and been surprised by her. I think the reason I feel his speech patterns more closely match Tsukasa is because it's more in line with the way Tsukasa treats people than the way Amane/Hanako tends to treat people (specifically Nene.)

Sorry if this answer was somewhat unsatisfactory! But thank you for the question. Someday it would be fun to take a deeper, better-researched dive into the speech patterns of the Yugi Twins, I think!

To end off...

This little self-intro by the cat reminded me a lot of Tsukasa and Amane's own self-intros. Using the particle さ and explaining his role as a supernatural... it's a cute callback! Just wanted to call attention to it.

[vigilskeep]

does sol have options on spite? does spite on sol? endlessly fascinated with them, it’s so sweet how you went from puzzling over the possibility of a crow warrior to having dreams about sol 😭

sol has a mild case of sympathy for spite’s side of the story from the start; “yeah, trapped in there with some uppity master crow going on and on about contracts who never lets you get a word in edgewise no matter how often you’ve backed him up, i know that experience”. but that would never prevent them from staying alert, registering spite as an ever-present threat against lucanis, which rises in importance against spite’s usefulness as lucanis starts to matter more to them. they always had calculating how to get rid of it in the back of their mind, for sure. this state of affairs goes on until the bit where spite drags you into the fade to take lucanis to therapy. and it’s like, OH, okay, you have completely reasonable goals aligned with mine and for a demon you’re kind of adorable. that’s when sol starts actually getting fond. they love when spite makes Interesting and Creative fade bridges (they have artistic merit, lucanis), they always get a laugh out of it talking to the others, and it’s never let them down in a fight. as long as it’s good to lucanis and lucanis is okay with it, it’s part of what they love and they’re here for it all the way

spite likes sol. which makes sense, because it is a mostly straightforward, uncomplicated creature that lives in lucanis’ brain, where sol is the number one source of light and freedom and all good things. but sol also meets spite’s own standards, i think? sol is vicious and sharp, bringer of fire! clever and fun, trusted and safe! breaker of chains, opener of doors! ours! these are all very good things! spite is well pleased by their proximity. which is precisely what lucanis finds most unsettling, because he automatically doesn’t trust anything his demon wants, so overall this unfortunately does not quickly help spite’s case for More Sol and I Get To Talk To Them

in summary

spite: if we run and leap at sol they will most certainly catch us in their arms

lucanis: NO! THEY’RE HOLDING COFFEE!

[sol drops the coffee to catch them, Lucanis Disapproves]

i don’t know how... involved spite is in lucanis and sol’s relationship? (DISCLAIMER: the rest of this post ventures into my general headcanons about what spite is and how it works, and is not intended to discount anyone else’s interpretations of spite or the romance.) spite does not strike me as a spirit that had previously had very much contact with people. if any. it’s incredibly single-minded, with broken, childish speech patterns and a very poor understanding of how the material world works. which is to say that i think before we ask ourselves if spite is truly part of this romantic relationship, we should set our sights lower. like maybe, “does spite know what a romantic relationship is?” i’m still cracking up at that one shot where you’re on the late game coffee date and lucanis comes over to stand next to you, and the camera zooms out to show spite just... still there. sitting there watching. it’s learning, okay. it’s very curious and mildly confused but not displeased by this turn of events. more sol is good! there seem to be a lot of strange mortal customs involved with this direction, though

to me, spite encircling them with the wings in the final romance scene seemed like it is definitely present and made a choice to do that—lucanis says in other dialogue that the wings are spite and he doesn’t control them—but i don’t necessarily read that spite is taking part, so to speak. spite is still working on What Are Physical Bodies And How Do They Work And Why Do They Look Like That, and i just fail to believe that it has sex figured out or even sexual attraction online. (right now, at least! never say never?) my honest interpretation of spite’s choice to pop out the wings is threefold:

a) taash said it would be good and that sol would like it. taash is, in spite’s opinion, usually very sensible, so their advice is worth trying

b) spite apparently can make an attempt to go elsewhere when lucanis is having sex, because i’ve heard about dialogue from a neve/lucanis setup where spite says that when the hat comes off it’s been told to leave and go “play with wisps”, which is, btw, so fucking funny. however, spite in this scene has spent weeks in the Very Wrong Bad Not Right absence of rook, and now rook is Here! the wings are spite just present enough to still soak that in. that’s all it needs from this moment, which shows in how contented it is in this scene to be, as far as i can tell, otherwise really remarkably quiet and non-intrusive and let lucanis and rook have the moment they need

c) lucanis was very clear that this is Private, and spite is attempting to ensure that they have privacy by covering them safely with the wings, because it is Suspicious About The Fish

[scholarinbookland]

I'm relieved to learn that I'm not the only one who sees FACE as an album about the end of a romantic relationship.

Mention this to some factions in the fandom and it's "How DARE you call Jimin a liar! " But Jimin isn't lying; at most, he's dissembling in order to protect his own privacy. Fair enough. Let the music speak for itself.

Shippers will be equally outraged because if FACE is about a break-up and Jikook would never, ever, ever break up, then that would mean there was another person in Jimin's life. And another person--male or female--cannot be allowed to exist.

I don't know what to tell them. I mean, most of us have experienced a bad break-up with a romantic partner. And we've all probably had break-ups with once-cherished friends. Both losses are painful, but there is an intensity and a drive toward self-destructive behavior in FACE which speaks to the loss of a lover, not a buddy.

In the case of Lie, I didn't know that RM was the one who interpreted the song to be about Jimin's lack of confidence, perfectionism, and "imposter syndrome." I'd always thought this is what people gathered from Jimin himself.

It made me think of that interview where Jimin says to his past self, "hurry up, and become me." And now I'm wondering if Lie wasn't more about the role he was forced to play in the early days of BTS and the toll that took on him. And then I wonder if he wouldn't be willing to perform Lie again--now that he is in a happier, healthier, and more secure place.

Yes, if you look at the footage for Lie interpretation (I was curious about all the comments about Lie) it was a livestream when RM discussed the song. When asked, Jimin just said that it’s a song about lying (I snorted when I saw that clip, it’s pretty funny). I couldn’t find the page screenshot from Beyond the Story again where “Lie” is discussed, but basically as I recall it he initially was going to write something less personal, but when talking things out with the producers and songwriters he decided to make it be his experiences. I find it interesting the keyword chosen was “Lie”, because the phrasing in that page sounded like he was talking about the pressures of his stage persona not being him, so “Lie” seems a bit harsh. But I love the song, so I’ll let it slide.

Personally, I’ve never understood shipping. I’m not going to bash all shippers, because I don’t think it’s a good idea to generalize ever, but once you start harassing people over your ship, you’ve gone too far and that’s not okay. I don’t see what they’re seeing between any BTS member, but I wouldn’t care if any of them actually were together. In my opinion, dating colleagues is the fastest way to wreck group dynamics, but people do it anyways, so YMMV. From my perspective, as long as their theories stay firmly tagged and inside fandom spaces instead of elsewhere, I’m not going to try and police them.

I mainly watched Jimin interviews for FACE and behind the scenes for MUSE before going back to old Bangtan Bombs and episodes, but I got the impression that Jimin is the kind of person that picks every word deliberately when speaking. I even saw an interesting YouTube video series where someone analyzed each BTS member’s speech patterns in Korean and apparently Jimin constantly qualifies statements instead of making assertions. Instead of saying something as fact, he goes either, “I think that…” or “I hope that…” before continuing the statement. It’s a very thoughtful way of speaking, and I found it fascinating how frequently he does this. His father apparently wanted him to become a prosecutor, so I think he’s always been prone to being a logical and thoughtful speaker that doesn’t give much away.

I’m of the camp where I don’t want to assume anything about his personal life in specifics, but when I heard Face-Off, I went, “Who hurt you?”. It’s such a gorgeous song, but so darkly funny at times. The Flea Waltz (practically circus music) that sounds like it belongs in a horror movie, going into a record scratch and a new beat, the first lyrics actually being “F- you” pitched up, the word choices being so precisely in tune with the mood being set. It’s the feeling when you look back at your own choices after a nasty betrayal and go, “I should have seen this coming”. He’s basically going, “I’m a fool and a clown for trusting you with my money and my heart”, but he’s so self-aware about it. I love this song- it’s such a head-banger.

I also watched a bootleg of Are You Sure, and was struck with that one part in Sapporo, where Jimin sees a little girl and talks about wanting a daughter. I honestly think he’s laying the groundwork a couple years in advance to prepare his fans for him settling down and starting a family once he finds the right person. This implies he’s had at least one serious relationship, if he’s thinking in those terms. I think he’d be a great dad, too.

I think he’s doing a good job of explaining just enough, without over sharing, about his music. We as his fans don’t have a right to his private life, and we especially shouldn’t dictate what he’s allowed to do. In my opinion, the kind of content he released for his solo projects is the kind of content HYBE should stick to, because I really think they’re overworked on the reality show side of things. I’m still trying to get through RunBTS, because it feels like “pick on Jimin” hour most episodes and I don’t like that.

I’ve spent three days fiddling with my first draft of my Like Crazy acting analysis, and it’ll probably be up in the next day or so once I find where he talked about the heat camera used, because I think he alluded to why he chose to use it. It was either in the MV behind or his watch of the MV on livestream, so I have to go back through that footage. I’m trying so hard to keep it interpretation-neutral, so I’ve literally been watching the video, writing down my interpretations for each scene, taking a break, and then watching it again with a different framework in mind. There’s actually two more sets than I remembered in my acting post: the skinny hallway where he pushes past people and the hallway that looks like the back area of a club, with all the mud dripping down the walls. It will be posted soon, though. Every time I watch it I go, “THIS is the guy who apparently can’t act?”, because it baffles me how pervasive narratives are. Oh well, it doesn’t have to be perfect, as long as it makes sense.

Thanks for the ask, because I love to ramble!

[taniahylian]

Chapter 9: Good idea, bad execution

Hi, everyone! I'm here to complain about the main story yet again because omg, is it bad. Not as bad as chapter 8 (I doubt anything can be as bad as that thing), but bad nonetheless.

But let's start with the things I actually liked, which is... honestly a surprising amount, but that only makes the subsequent disappointment all the more painful imo.

The good.

I really, really, REALLY liked the parallels and contrasts between the Panopticon inmates and the Aperion believers. It was amazing, I loved every second of it, and I wish they had done something better with it.

Think about it! The people in the island are compleatly free, technically, but they consider themselves prisioners of the phenomenal world and consider that only the Truth can free them. Meanwhile, the Panopticon inmates are prisoners in one of the most desolate places on Earth... yet they consider themselves free; free to think, to write and to say anything they want, since "no one can be imprisoned twice". Which is a great concept! A very philosophical discussion about what freedom even is and how each person attains it. Truly a fascinating idea.

Then we also have the fact that both Aperion and the Panopticon are ruled by numbers. However, while in Aperion they followed the strict methods of mathematics and believed in the existence of an Ultimate Truth that ruled everything, the Panopticon inmates use a dice with numbers to decide everyone's destiny, believing it to be truly random and therefore fair (spoiler: it's not, it's absolutely predetermined).

I find it a bit ironic that Aperion fell because they discovered that the ultimate truth didn't exist and the true nature of the Storm was Chaos, while the Panopticon fell because they discovered that the dice wasn't random (chaotic), but instead followed a fixed pattern. Nice little contrast there... but I digress.

I also liked that Urd took a slightly more active role and we even got to see some scenes from her pov; that was neat. Recoleta is also a pretty cool character with a good design, and I adored the Idealist's personality and manner of speech. Octavia was also pretty cool (wish she was playable), as well as the Jailer.

The bad.

Oh boy... where do I even start? I guess the most obvious thing first: the aesthetic. Omg, who was the freaking genius who thought that having a backrooms aesthetic be the best course of action for a story taking place in a mental asylum was a good idea??? It's not! It sucks, it's not immersive and it's stupid!

It feels like the devs are trying to say "see? We know what kids like these days *wink*" and it's cringy as fuck. It's not eerily deserted and mysterious like the backrooms are supposed to be, and it's also not a proper mental asylum. It's just an ackward, distracting amalgamation of both. Why is there water everwhere??? Even inside the cells? What's the purpose of all that water??? And wouldn't it be frozen, since they're almost at the Antartica? Ugh, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.

But anyways, I could've looked past the abhorrent aesthetic if they had at least made a good story with a satisfying payoff and an ending that made sense.

They did not.

Ah yes, Aleph made an entire mental asylum and managed it for almost 15 years just so Recoleta could write her fucking novel that no one understands anyways. Well, he also mentions experiments and the Manus, but both of those are glossed over and not explained enough, to the point that they feel like they don't even matter.

Also... Recoleta being a ghost. What was even the purpose of that??? It couldn't have been just shock value, right? Right???

She tears the novel and "dies" and comes back in the next fucking stage for some reason that makes no sense at all. Bruh, just have her die for real, I wouldn't even mind having a dead character in my suitcase if at least the story would be more coherent and have more of an impact, but Bluepoch are cowards that can't kill playable characters for some unknown reason.

And don't even let me get started with what happens after that. Omg, I'm starting to wonder if maybe Vertin and Sonetto suffered a severe lobotomy that left them braindead after chapter 8 or something. Seriously. They saw that the Panopticon was collapsing and... instead of trying to evacuate the immates or even taking a minute to explain what's happening to the Jailer, they just... leave. Huh??????

I can kind of understand Vertin and Sonetto leaving, since they were just seaching for Urd and maybe they're hyperfocused on that, but imo it's out of character for them to leave without even trying to help anyone when the reason they leave is that the Panopticon is collapsing. Yes, I know they ask García if he wants their help to evacuate and he refuses, but he's just one inmate! There's hundreds in there, judging by the cells, so why just make a half-assed attempt to help one of them and then leave???

Meanwhile Recoleta... I really can't excuse her leaving. Later on she'll go back and be like "they're my friends, I have to help them". GIRL. Why did you leave in the first place??? If they're your friends and you can't just leave them to die, why the fuck did you leave them to die??? Is it just so we can have a "cool" scene of Recoleta walking slowly across a field while the asylum is burning in the distance? Because it really seems like it.

And there's yet another problem. Vertin and Sonetto take Aleph's ship to go to the Antartica and find Urd, which is fine, but then they just... tell him to wait there until Fundation officials arrive? COME ON! He's associated with the Manus, and you've seen him experiment on ppl! Even if he's just a human, he could do heinius things in the nearby town. YOU CAN'T LEAVE HIM THERE UNSUPERVISED! Couldn't they at least have called the local Police and ask them to keep him in custody while the Foundation arrived? Couldn't Sonetto have stayed behind, while Vertin embarked alone in her quest to find Urd? I find either of those situations much more acceptable ngl.

As for the Panopticon ppl... Ugh. What a fucking ending. Seriously. Did they run out of budget or something? We couldn't get a final scene with Octavia and the others explaining why the fire started and why they decided to stay? Because the way I see it, they just wanted to be free to express their art and hope maybe their art could help change Latinamerica... how would they do that from the freaking afterlife??? (No, García's lame "there's no better place for me than here" doesn't count; that's just one person's opinion, and he isn't even a leader, like Octavia).

Seems like a lame attempt at shock value, trying to replicate the amazing storm scene in chapter 7, just without an ounce of the emotions, meaning and phylosophical implications it had. I'm seeing a trend here, ngl, with both chapters 8 and 9 trying to replicate scenes from chapters 2 and 7 respectively and failing misserably at it.

Ugh, I'm starting to hate the main story ngl... which is a shame because the side events that have nothing to do with it are actually quite good, while the events that try to be main story are a hot mess (looking at you, 2.4).

In any case... I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it. It had some solid ideas and concepts, but it feels like they rushed the ending, added a bunch of things that didn't make sense just for shock value and compleatly underminded whatever message they were trying to tell.

6/10. Not terrible, but also not good.

[aihoshiino]

The thing about me is that I am a bit of a freak when it comes to the way characters refer to each other, especially when it’s my blorbos. So I have basically a mental chart of how ai calls others and how others call her.

I find it fascinating that in akane’s ai performance, she changes how she addresses others. Going from ‘aqua-kun’ to just ‘aqua’ and ‘yuki-chan’ to ‘yuki’. (Side note: when I was double checking the og jp text, I was surprised by how much aikane borrowed from yuki.)

Professor of ai, do you think this aspect of aikane is accurate to the real ai? What do you make of aikane in general?

If I remember correctly, ai is yobisute with a couple of people, aqua and ruby(obviously), watanabe and takamine in 45510, we never see ai call hikaru by name (a fact I am very normal about) but in 15YL they are yobisute with each other.

I think Aikane is pretty interesting as like... an in-universe reflection of what Ai's 'public' self was understood to be. On the one hand, the fact that Akane was able to get such a good read on Ai just through examining publicly available information is an early reflection/indication of the fact that 'Ai of B-Komachi' really isn't that different from the supposed "real" Ai and that she contains enough of Ai's authentic self for Akane to replicate it, at least in part.

On the other hand, she is ultimately only a recreation of Ai's public self, and whatever the manga might try and tell us... Akane doesn't really know who Ai is. She knows things about Ai, but that doesn't mean she understands her as a person. I think Akane, for better or worse, kind of just sees Ai like any other role she plays - a fictional character for her to come up with fun headcanons about so she can playact as her better as opposed to a real human being.

This is something season 2 of the anime supports with some interesting imagery, however accidentally;

Not only is Akane's image of Ai incomplete, but it's an image of Ai of B-Komachi, Ai's overly polished public self - and she's pictured alongside Sayahime, an entirely unreal fictional character. In Akane's mind, these two 'roles' are the same in form and weight.

I do definitely agree that Aikane borrows a LOT from Yuki, though! That was something that always seemed quite implicit to me, so I was always surprised that other people never really talk about it. Aikane is particularly forward and flirtatious and pushy in a way that even Ai of B-Komachi is not, but very much does reflect the version of herself that Yuki was playing on the show. And given that Aikane is born out of (among other things, obvs) Akane's sense of rivalry with Yuki and admiration of her, I think that makes a lot of sense.

(Yuki is also one of those Secretly Ai characters we see pop up in the first half of the manga, imo, which drives this home even further.)

Because of this, I think the terms of address thing is something Akane cribbed from Yuki rather than Ai - past a certain point (or perhaps when she's in Work Mode), Yuki calls Akane by her first name with no honorifics. I... don't remember if she does it for anybody else, off the top of my head? But at the very least, that's how she speaks to Akane.

ACTUALLY: Quick addendum to this while it's in my queue, but I suddenly remembered these two clearly paralleled lines:

The TL obscures this a teeny bit, but these lines are even more obviously and deliberately mirrored in Japanese:

「茜わ私のこと、嫌い？」 Akane wa watashi no koto kirai? 「ゆきわこう言う私、嫌い?」 Yuki wa kouiu watashi kirai?

The anime takes this a step further and has Aikane use the exact same inflection and even deliberate pacing of her speaking when she delivers this line. So definitely an indication to me that Aikane borrows just as much from Yuki as she does from the real Ai.

Back to the real Ai herself tho, this isn't really reflective of her own speech patterns. It can be easy to miss because the setup of the series is such that the Venn diagram of "characters Ai addresses by name" and "characters Ai addresses without honorifics" is almost a single circle lol but she's pretty polite with her honorifics usage and doesn't really jump to yobisute very fast, at least not with people's real names - we can infer that all the gen 1 B-Komachi girls only ever addressed each other by their stage names, for example, so Ai leaving off their honorifics can be understood as her addressing them by title instead, in the same way she calls Ichigo "President" and Gorou "Sensei".

Another thing that differentiates Ai from Aikane is that Aikane almost seems to go out of her way to use people's names, probably as a way of coming off as more forward and confident. By contrast, Ai herself does the opposite - Kyun mentions in POV B (i gotta start getting used to not calling it viewpoint b) that Ai tends to avoid using people's names because she often gets them wrong when she does (some combo of autism faceblindness & her low literacy meaning she struggles to correctly read name kanji probably) and doesn't want to get in trouble.

All this combined makes me feel pretty sure that Aikane is just a portrayal of the ideal of Ai in all senses of the word. Akane assembles her from all the prettiest, shiniest parts of Ai and Yuki and plays her as an effortlessly perfect, flirtatious and confident girl... which we all know the real Ai very much was not.

[sugargirlfigurine]

my besties pushed me to make my tumblr debut so now you all have to read my thoughts on will graham! so here you go…

i’m gonna yap about will grahams speech patterns and overall syntax of his voice and words because it’s just so fascinating to me like his whole character and the way hugh dancy portrayed him so clearly

and yes i am a will autism truther it’s non debatable for me and i truly dgaf if bryan fuller or hugh denies it

so i know in hannibal he’s a british man using an american accent so of course words are going to sound a little off, but i’ve seen adam where hugh is not putting on an accent and the man still sounds like autism turbo blasted!

so to start, reading red dragon by thomas harris, literally 3 pages into the book you get met with this

“Jack Crawford heard the rhythm and syntax of his own speech in Graham's voice. He had heard Graham do that before, with other people. Often in intense conversation Graham took on the other person's speech patterns. At first, Crawford had thought he was doing it deliberately, that it was a gimmick to get the back-and-forth rhythm going.

Later Crawford realized that Graham did it involuntarily, that sometimes he tried to stop and couldn't.”

so it gives a very good foundation for the concept of wills speech patterns in the sense that he Doesn’t consciously know the patterns he’s picking up on and taking on himself.

hugh reading red dragon absorbed that quote and STUCK to it because the way he talks with hannibal versus jack versus bedilia verses alana ETC his speech patterns change every time.

i wanted to highlight this part of the script and i unfortunately couldn’t find a recording of the whole quote but it’s this one

Hannibal: You stood in the breathing silence of Garrett Jacob Hobbs's home, the very spaces he moved through. Tell me, Will, did they speak to you?

Will: With noise and clarity.

Hannibal: You could sense his madness, like a bloodhound.

Will: I tried so hard to know Hobbs. To see him--past the slides and vials, beyond the lines of the police reports, between the pixels of all those printed faces of sad, dead girls.

Hannibal: How did you feel seeing Marissa Schuur impaled in his antler room?

Will: Guilty.

Hannibal: Because you couldn't save her?

Will: Because I felt like I killed her.

the way will talks is so….not neurotypical whatsoever like saying dead bodies spoke to him with “noise and clarity”

first thing is they’re dead they don’t talk so the word noise is very interesting to use and Clarity as well

and his monotone face as he says guilty i cant

and the way he feels guilty to an extreme as though he himself killed her feels so….idk the word but yeah pure empathy etc etc but i feel like autistic people (myself included but this isn’t gonna be intentionally projecting) but walk around feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt for even existing in a neurotypical centric world and having a brain that need something different just can feel very burdening.

and this is just crazy his ‘breakup’ scene w hannibal where he says

“I miss my dogs. I'm not going to miss you. I'm not going to find you. I'm not going to look for you. I don't want to know where you are or what you do. I don't want to think about you anymore.”

like i miss i’m not im not in not i don’t Want i don’t Want UGHHH he knows he will always think about hannibal but he doesn’t Want to what the flip it kills me

[dadcred]

translation: "the problem is you're anything but subtle. but if you agree to finally use 'tu' to address me, then i might think about it."

the above is thancred's response to urianger asking to join him in his travels after they beat meteion.

for context, the scions each take their time with using "tu" with companions vs. "vous" throughout the game. estinien tells alphinaud to stop "vuvoyer-ing" (vuvoyer = use vous) him iirc ~end of heavensward. alisae declares her intent to tutoyer (use tu) wol in shadowbringers. and until endwalker, thancred also uses "vous" with wol. but in endwalker, all the scions are on a "tu" basis with each other including wol.

except for urianger who, because of his formal speech patterns, uses "vous" with everyone regardless of his relationship with them.

here's what thancred says in english for comparison:

and such a big difference makes sense since english does not have any similar formality rules, even if it's at the expense of a fantastic little urithan banter tidbit.

however, that means this bit is one of those localization moments that is going to be highly dependent on the language's rules and cultural context. so i wonder, in the jpn, does thancred also make a comment about use of less formal honorifics? i also know very little about the german language, so i wonder what this is in german too! the art of localization continues to be fascinating.

[moodymisty]

[ 𝕸𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖞𝕸𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖞'𝖘 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙 | 𝕬𝖔3 ]

Author's Note: @commodoreprocrastinator this is your fault, now deal with the repercussions of your actions. Part 1 of 2. I hope it's romantic enough even though it's the cardboard cutout primarch and only my second time writing him. ¯\_( ❛︠ ⍙ ︡❛)_/¯

Summary: Your knight returns after what has felt like ages apart, and decides to take part in a secret moment alone.

Relationship: Lion'el Jonson/Gn!Reader (no pronouns are used in this, but it does have a very princess/knight vibe so fair warning)

Warnings: None that I can think of

Word Count: 1305

Lion El'Jonson strides down the halls of the Invincible Reason with purpose.

The ceramite boots of his armor hit the ground louder than that of an astartes, and any one he passes by stops their task and gives a respectful bow of their head. He doesn’t demand them to bow and kiss the floor, but he expects a level of decorum from his legion. They are expected to as sons of The First; As Dark Angels.

As he walks, rain pattering down against any surface exposed to it, Lion'el sighs.

Belath had proven more than timely with his updates as to the legion’s current effectiveness, which the Primarch appreciated. He will always find one of the astarte's finer qualities to be his lack of verbose speech- his ability to get to the point. But even in it's simplicity, it had still proven irritating when he had something else on the mind.

Travel to the Fortress Monastery had proven both as unexciting and lackluster as his drawing and discussion of strategic plans had been.

He arrived during the night, the moonlight spilling through the massive glass windows and mullions forming patterns along the stone floors. The Lion breaks their design as he walks through them, a hand resting on the pommel of his shortsword. His greatsword rests on his back, overtop of the dark emerald green cape that flows behind him just brushing against the floor.

He goes higher, traveling up flights of stairs made of solid stone. Some have runners of ornate, hand woven cloth, the design in a dark emerald green embellished with golden thread. All of it- every tapestry and mural, bears the symbol or at least the color scheme of his Legion.

Higher again, until he’s far beyond where most astartes and serfs typically tread. The rug that runs down the hall is much more worn, having taken an unknown number of years worth the footfall without being replaced. There aren’t many souls who come up here, for there isn't much reason for them to. The Lion's personal quarters reside in these halls, and unless he calls them they have no need to ever step foot here.

He turns one corner, and at the end of the hall lies his destination. 

He can see two Astartes guarding the door, as he had placed them. He had placed trust in the elder of them to choose another marine to serve as his parallel in guard along with two others to rotate with. A young astartes is beside him, clear by the different regalia and symbolism he wears that gives it away to only one familiar to their legion.

Lion stands between them, his hand adjusting once more on the pommel of his sword.

“Take your leave.”

He speaks plainly to both, and they nod their ceramite helms before walking past. Once the Lion can no longer hear their heavy power armor trudging down stairs that even made of full stone complain as men so heavy walk on them, he places a hand on the door’s handle.

He pulls it open; Winged helm in his opposite hand. Not moments later does he hear a voice call his name sounding both surprised and excited.

“Lion?”

At the call of his name he looks forward, seeing you leaning away from the window. Your hands had been leaning against the sill, watching whatever had been of interest below. More than likely the sea of Dark Angels all returning, a sea of dark green. You've always had this odd sort of of fascination with it all. He steps closer, and you turn to fully watch him come to stand right in front of you. 

After a moment’s waiting, the massive Primarch slowly lowers to a knee. He sighs as he does so, as if irritated by a request you hadn’t even made. You take the invitation to come closer, as you gently press a chaste kiss against his lips. You feel his beard brush against your skin, the top half of his blonde hair pulled back. He doesn't sigh in discontent that time.

“I missed you. Are you ok?” 

The Lion finds your overt concern pointless, but somewhat endearing. He’s never had someone so overt in caring about his wellbeing. Though even if it’s pointless, he can’t expect you to shed the emotions you’ve shown for so long. He can and has as a Primarch, to a mortal they are interwoven into your very being.

“Yes.” 

He glances over to a massive table filled with stacks of books. They’re scattered about, some open and some stacked in piles of an unknown organizational system. He’s not surprised you took interest in the massive collection. 

Your hands have stayed hovering in front of your chest most of this time, though now they move forward and hesitantly reach for him. He allows you to touch his jawline as you come closer. The rough scruff of his beard tickles your palms, and you'd laugh if you didn't think he'd be almost childishly insulted by it.

“How long are you going to stay this time?” 

Lion knows that you aren’t expecting any actual answer; He cannot give you one, nor will he. The moment an uncontacted world is discovered, he will leave. It is his duty and his purpose. No matter even if he has other thoughts on his mind, thoughts of you, they cannot impede his goal. 

“Long enough for the legion to rest.” He pauses. “What do you want?” 

He always asks this, only able to show how he feels about you in these silent gestures. You don’t say anything nor blame him, as despite him being far older than yourself, you can clearly tell this sort of thing is entirely uncharted.

It's been a bit odd; He's many years your senior, but it often feels like you're the one showing him things.

You can't avoid smiling this time, though it's abit more guilty that perhaps Lion was expecting.

“I would love to watch your men spar again, but they've only just stepped foot on Caliban." Lion gives you an unimpressed look.

"You would ask something of my Legion instead of myself?" Your hands are still on his chest armor, and your fingers brush across the giant aquilla in a slightly flustered gesture.

"But, you’ve said your men aren't strong enough for you to duel them.”

He remains one of if not the best duelist that the Imperium has ever seen, and despite how diligently and strictly he has trained his Dark Angels, none of them have the natural prowess he has to be a true fight. It's simply in his nature as a Primarch.

Lion, in an extremely rare moment, softens his face with a hint of amusement. He raises and armored hand to gently hold your jaw, and brush a small bit of a hair away from your face. His massive hand overtakes much of you, but he's surprising gentle despite it. He uses a small bit of his strength however to pull you just close enough to give you a gentle kiss to the forehead.

“When we arrive to Terra, perhaps I can proposition one of my brothers for a duel then. I am sure at least one of them will be eager to accept.” 

A fight between Primarchs? You had never considered yourself bloodthirsty or violent, but something about it makes your heart race- eager to watch. Perhaps it’s what his men feel shortly before a battle, or when they begin their training each and every day.

You smile at him, and grasp at his gauntlet. It's the closest you can get to any sort of intimate gesture, with his armor still on. He looks at you with the most relaxed face you've seen on him in awhile, as you speak.

"I would love to see that."

[woodbrook-wanderer]

🦆 Lurching To Spring : A Post-A Day to Rite Of Spring 🦆 [11/30]

This is gonna be a different, perhaps more personal post about a headcanon and a thought I've had about Beneath The Trees for a while.

I'm not sure how else to begin this than to say Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees could be categorized as a piece of media that autistic people would gravitate to for several reasons. This opinion sparked as a joke at first from friebds when I was initially shocked IDW also serializes IPs like MLP, TMNT, Transformers, and more importantly for this discussion- Sonic The Hedgehog. Reservations about IDW's Sonic aside, as time passed I realized why BTTWNS stuck to me as an autistic person and why it clicked all the right buttons to become a special interest.

Character Design & Art

I went into BTTWNS for the art and particularly Sam's design. I have the softest spot in my heart for furry designs that aren't too stylized but aren't too realistic either. BTTWNS' take on the furverse is a perfect middle ground between conventional furry art and BoJack Horseman anthro art. The way the textures are drawn and painted, the funny proportions, and the expressionwork you can do with a realistic animal head was so endearing to me.

Linear Storytelling and Lore

BTTWNS has the benefit of being a series that's strictly a comic which at the time I got into it just ended the first arc and was about to launch Praludium. I didn't feel intimidated to get into it because it was just a 6 issue run and I maybe wouldn't have mind if I skipped Praludium since it was a side story + it was con exclusive. But! BTTWNS is written in a way where it is an interesting world and premise that you'd want to know More about which is why I reread it very often to keep tabs on the lore of Woodbrook and the characters. Everyone and everything was just so fascinating and I wanted to pick it all apart. Visual symbolism, the time period, scenes lining up to real events, cultures, stories, and myths even if unintentional makes me extremely excited to just research it all. My first breakdown post was how Sam's dream in Issue 4 is a mirror to the Bhuta Yadjna. I'm excited to do more breakdowns like that here and I'm grateful people entertain such analysis here!

Sam as a protagonist

Most interestingly, I feel like having Sam be the way she is, speak the way she does, and her mannerisms draw people to her character. I think her narration coming in the form of journal entries and being (reasonably) simple but condensed with information and emotion (or the lack thereof) makes it so that her speech patterns are easily replicable to an autistic person. These journal entries reveal so much more about Sam's personality and feelings than her own actions sometimes which resonates very well to autistic people who find it hard to categorize their emotions or lack empathy.

I mentioned Sonic earlier which is a hallmark of autism media that share the same traits as BTTWNS as a story. They are vastly different mediums and Sonic has seen many iterations and interpretations whereas Sam is only pinned in one ongoing comic. Sonic should stay consistent for canon but Rite Of Spring hints that she'll go through some major changes in the arc or we'll see her in different perspectives. But the core canon of Sonic's personality, themes, and motivations- his carefree attitude, going through life at his own pace, doing as he pleases, and fighting for freedom - heavily codes him as an autistic person. His personality resonates with a lot of autistic individuals and as an autistic person myself, this pattern could be seen with Sam's character if you pay closer attention.

Autistic!Sam headcanon

I am not a professional psychiatrist. I do not have the extensive knowledge about the full scope of the autism spectrum. I am just basing my knowledge on my lived experiences and insight from my therapist over the years.

Horvath confirmed in the BTTWNS AMA that Sam has ASPD. This is a canon that was speculated in the past by other fans and is widely accepted. I personally also abide by this, but @theslackercorner55 has talked to me about the overlap of autistic traits with ASPD traits, and after hearing out her suggestions on Sam being autistic, a lot more of her actions and mannerisms make better sense than what I would frankly consider Horvath's hasty generalization and an ableist portrayal of people with Cluster B disorders. Given what canon has shown us, I've gleaned her most common autistic traits as these:

🥩 Difficulty Forming Relationships and Socializing:

Although she may not care as intensely for the people in her life as much as they care for her, feel less intensely about the other person, or just not care, it is clear she does want to seek community and belonging in Woodbrook. She does not have many friends, only being close to Lola and Charlie's family. She knows the value of friendship, social interactions, and love intellectually but won't be able to fully understand it- or at least how neurotypical people see it.

🥩 Routine and Rituals:

Sam relies on a routine to keep her life structured. This keeps her day monotonous and straightforward which although boring to most would be comforting to her because in a town like Woodbrook, there wouldn't be any sudden, abrupt changes that could sour her entire day or disrupt the familiarity she seeks. Even scheduling her hunting trips as needed, she marks it at the end of each month or every two months. Her process of killing is also routined- shutting down their nervous system, draining out their blood, then cutting them up neatly.

🥩 Heightened Sensitivity To Change:

This is basically the crux of the story of the first arc. She scrambles to solve the mystery first before any MAJOR changes in HER routine happen. The opening monologue of Issue 4 explains this best. By the end of book 1, Sam assumes that her schedule and life will smoothly transition back to normal. This might be true for the next few months, maybe a year, but things have evidently changed by the time we get to Rite Of Spring. She notes that trips are harder to schedule and now she can't go to Centerville or the same city twice. She feels that it'd be easier to slip up now ever since her mental health had taken that nosedive.

🥩 Monotonous Speech and Facial Expressions:

Some autistic people lack facial or speech awareness to convey their thoughts emotionally or as expressively as neurotypical folk. They might have a flat voice or an "empty" stare or smile. They might even overcompensate to blend in- exaggerating perceived "correct" emotional expressions.

🥩 Lack of empathy/disproportionate emotional response:

Alright, this one is tricky to pin down because we have to remember that Sam Is a bad person and does not feel any remorse for her murders, crimes, or sabotaging relationships with people for her own peace. But at the same time her not fully/completely understanding the value of relationships or love to other people is a result of a ton of factors (upbringing, culture..) one of which being her mental disorders in this case autism. I think back to this page in Issue 3 as a perfect example of this lack of empathy not being totally out of malice (as she's already found what she's been curious about, now just fascinated and impressed but not understanding why Melody would do that). This demonstrates both her lack of social cues and empathy for Melody's situation and ultimately agrees to keep her secret hidden.

🥩 Narrowed Interests:

This is once again part of the nuance we can glean through to speculate. Autistic people have what they cite as special interest(s) which are topics, ideas, medias they focus, study, research, or invest more time, money, or energy into consuming. We could assume throughout the story that Sam's special interest would be somewhere along the lines of medicine and biology with an emphasis on anatomy and botany.