#Crib Notes

[everettdemorier]

Discover the brilliance of Everett De Morier, from Crib Notes to Insightful Narratives, in his journey as a top non-fiction author.

[blueskiesandstarrynights]

How the Grunch Cribbed Christmas (2023)

[kanekocribs]

KANEKO'S CRIB NOTES LXVI: A RACIST (?) METAPHOR FOR VENGEANCE

I'll be honest with you all, we're running out of cribs. Who knows what the landscape will look like next year. Only one thing is for sure: Kaneko's bare, spooky carcass will be on full display at least once more by our fine friends at Colopl.

LEPRECHAUN: An often controversial design because "why is an Irish fairy clad in a Union Jack boot, isn't that a bit insensitive to Ireland? "; however, Eirikr puts that argument to rest with an exhaustive look into the design's context. And yeah, Leprechaun's "scandalous" boot is clearly cribbed from the one used by the Spice Girls' Geri Halliwell.

HOMO GORLEO: There are two things to say about Metaphor's human designs. The first is that most seem to be inspired by the works of Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch, like Gorleo here, which iterates on a figure found on the center panel of Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights triptych.

HOMO AVADES: The second thing we can say about the Metaphor humans is that we're frustrated by the lack of transparency regarding who designed them. One would assume that would be Shigenori Soejima, but Atlus has been less than forthright about something so apparently obvious. For the time being, we'll just have to credit them to "Studio Zero Art Team." Avades itself is at least more clearly adapted from the central figure of the the right panel of Bosch's Garden.

NYAMI NYAMI: We've made light of Doi in the past for over-relying on Wikipedia as a source for things, and, hey, it happened again for Vengeance's Nyami Nyami, this time an image of a wood carving of the deity used on the JP Wikipedia page that Doi clearly saw while researching and used as a reference, not that we're faulting him for it!

AMABIE: A design actually borne out of Atlus piggybacking on a Japanese Amabie meme during the Covid-19 pandemic, Doi's Amabie is based on a 19th century woodblock print that's the genesis for virtually all modern depictions of her.

[agnesandhilda]

as far as christian-themed art goes I'm of the opinion that you cannot meaningfully appropriate mainline western catholicism (it's a massively powerful branch of a religion that has been spread by imperialism and that actively seeks out converts as a core tenet. how could you appropriate it?) but that it is possible to engage with it shallowly and that that's fair game to make fun of. I will not be taking questions at this time

[anthurak]

Random Dark Souls 3 Thoughts/Theories/Headcanons I think are interesting and/or haven’t seen discussed anywhere else:

So we all understand that the Lords of Cinder essentially represent previous Dark Souls player characters, right? That each previous ‘Age’ of Fire was basically a hypothetical Dark Souls game where a powerful undead rose up to ‘link the fire’ just as we see in the previous two games. Now let’s consider that the plot of Dark Souls 3 is kicked off (if you take a close look at item descriptions/dialogue) by Prince Lothric, who was destined to Link the Fire, refusing to become a Lord of Cinder.

Notice the resemblance?

The inciting incident of Dark Souls 3 essentially that the previous Player Character chose NOT to Link the Fire just like we have the option to do in previous games. Dark Souls 3 is basically showing us what happens if we chose the ‘Age of Dark’ ending.

The answer of which happens to be: Turns out Gwyn, or his spawn and/or the Way of White planned for this and built a failsafe into the whole ‘Fire-Linking’ system in case a Chosen Undead ever failed in their task, or worse, started DOUBTING the whole ‘using humanity as fuel to keep our precious Age of Fire burning’ plan. That being, resurrect a bunch of undead who previously linked the fire and have them link the fire again.

And it turns out they even built in a second failsafe in case those resurrected Lords of Cinder fuck things up; resurrect a bunch of undead who failed to link the fire and throw THEM at the problem.

(my theory/headcanon is that the Lords of Cinder represent player characters who completed a playthrough, while the Unkindled represent PCs who’s players quit a playthrough XD)

And I think that’s just legitimately really fun and clever for a story/formula twist.

Like for one it makes the original/Pre-SotFS ending of Dark Souls 2 where you don’t actually get a choice to Link the Fire even more poignant. The whole point of that ending was that the ‘choice’ between Linking the Fire or Not was actually pointless. That even if YOU don’t Link the Fire, some other Undead WILL. That the ‘choice’ presented to you at the end of the previous game was an illusion.

Now we find out that even if there isn’t some Undead willing to burn their humanity away for the sake of the Gods’ precious Age of Fire, the very system those gods put in place will essentially force them, or someone else, to do it.

In fact, even without taking the failsafe into account, we also actually get hints of this with Aldrich the Devourer in Dark Souls 3. As Hawkwood puts it, Aldrich was made a Lord of Cinder. Not ‘chose’, MADE to be a Lord. If you read between the lines, it starts feeling like the Way of White was essentially keeping Aldrich, this incredibly powerful undead chained up in the Cathedral of the Deep simply as a ‘backup’ Lord of Cinder candidate in case no ‘Chosen Undead’ were willing the link the fire (btw, if you’re unfamiliar with Dark Souls and feeling the urge to woobify Aldrich, do keep in mind that he was ALSO essentially a mass-murdering cannibal who devoured so many people he eventually became a horrific sludge monster. So you know, perspective and all that).

Not to mention that Lothric and Lorian didn’t just ‘choose’ not to Link the Fire, they took major steps to ensure it COULDN’T be linked by anyone else, which we get a first-hand look at in the Untended Graves. First they filled what is supposed to be a ‘starting zone’ for the game with massively overleveled late-game enemies in order to ensure any Unkindled can’t rise. And if that doesn’t work, they also broke the Firelink sword and maybe even killed off any remaining Firekeepers that may have been present at the shrine. So that even when a potential ‘Chosen Undead’ DID show up in the form of Champion Gundyr, there was nothing he could actually do there. Not to mention it seems they also used the Eyes of the Firekeeper item we find there to get their Firekeeper to try and snuff out the flame like we can get our Firekeeper to do in one of the endings.

Really, it seems like the only wrinkle in the Princes’ plan may have been Ludleth. As in, I think the way he became a Lord of Cinder was by sneaking into the Kiln of the First Flame after the Princes opened it, and Linked the stifled flame, starting the ‘age’ we find ourselves in at the start of the game.

Basically, Dark Souls 3 shows us just how twisted and corrupted the Age of Fire has become after all these eons, giving us a look at the lengths the Gods and their followers will go to in order to perpetuate a broken, twisted, even unsustainable system, and the lengths that others will go to in order to break that system.

[eirikrjs]

Have you seen this alchemical engraving of a chimera from Cabala, Mirror of Art and Nature? I'm convinced it served as an inspiration for Master Therion, but I fail to see the connection between the two other than both belonging to Western esotericism.

Yes, I think so, too; it's actually the second entry of Kaneko's Crib Notes:

I think the image itself is more pertinent than the "Cabala" subject or the context around it. Because the truth is with a lot of Japanese books (and those from elsewhere) is that images can be used without being properly sourced or credited--if at all.

A couple examples:

This is an entry on Stonka from "World Yokai Picture Book" by Jaguar books, a series of books Kaneko loved. Note of course that this is not artwork of Stonka itself but rather the work of Marc Saint-Saens arbitrarily recontextualized to illustrate the entry.

I first saw the Cabala beast on the cover of this book (not recommended, quite rudimentary); I don't think it is otherwise mentioned or detailed in the book itself.

So I can't say we know exactly where Kaneko saw the Cabala beast, just that I feel confident in saying he did see it before designing Master Therion for SMT2. It could have literally been anywhere--and such a serendipitous glimpse is sometimes all that's required to provide the spark of needed creativity.

[teathattast]

Something in your eyes

Makes me wanna lose myself

Makes me wanna lose myself

In your arms

There's something in your voice

Makes my heart beat fast

Hope this feeling lasts

The rest of my life

If you knew how lonely my life has been

And how long I've been so alone

If you knew how I wanted someone to come along

And change my life the way you've done

Feels like home to me

[carsonjonesfiance]

I can be against the military and against killing yourself. Pretty easily actually. Not sure what your point was

[justarandombrit]

The single thing that would've improved How The Grunch Cribbed Christmas would be, at the end, when Rudy gets arrested, Brian wearing the AVPM Quirrell prison costume.

[pyotrkochetkov]

what if we fucked in the hurricanes hockey branded jacuzzi at the invisalign arena practice facility

[the-whispers-of-death]

IM NOT JUDGING YOU ABOUT PREGNANT STONE I WANNA HEAR MORE ABOUT IT

Oh thank God.

I think Pregnant Stone = Soft Stone. He'd be singing softly to his baby bump, constantly caressing the bump. He plays his Bollywood vinyl albums for the baby. He cuts back on the amount of spicy food he eats. He no longer wakes up at four in the morning to start his day, instead he sleeps in later.

He cried happy tears upon seeing the ultrasound at his first appointment, babbling about how he'll love them so much. He buys so many parenting books, intent on not being like his father. While talking to the baby in his womb, he tells them that he'll love them no matter what. No matter what gender they are, no matter how eccentric they'll be.

I've always had a thought about him being able to stitch and knit, because they're important life skills, so he's knitting his own socks and baby blankets for the baby.

He definitely doesn't do much heavy-lifting around the house, since he's in his mid-thirties and that's when pregnancies are in the danger zone. But he's determined to ensure this pregnancy will go smooth and that both him and the baby makes it.

He sees the world in a bright light now, there's finally someone for him to fight for. Someone to fight to come home to. And he'll protect them as much as he can.

[homoqueerjewhobbit]

Look, technically, I'm like ¼ German (my German Jewish ancestors were so prescient they came to America 50 years before Hitler was born!)... Where was I going?

Oh right, I am personally offended by Neil Patrick Harris's accent on Doctor Who.

[altschmerzes]

you've mentioned having other POVs coming up for wriggle up on dry land- would love to see any dani or sam pov snippets, if you've got em :eyes:

YES, i have some of a scene with sam i was working on earlier that i really love. i'll put most of it under a cut bc it's pretty long but i had a great time writing this and wanted to include like. the whole Section it was from.

Sam never used to be a morning person. It was always difficult to get himself out of bed, especially when he was small. His father had made up a song about it that he would sing when rousing Sam for the day. Ola would walk into his son’s room already singing it, quiet at first and then louder and louder the longer Sam insisted on burying his face in his pillow and refusing to acknowledge being awake. He’d always gotten up at the end, usually with a groaned insistence that his father stop embarrassing him because he’s up, he’s up, and there had been less complaining involved the older he got. It was easier to go along with once Sam understood the necessity of making use of what time the day afforded to him, especially with football and school and other things leaving him increasingly feeling like every moment of the day must be preciously guarded and budgeted appropriately.

Lately, though, his perspective on the earliest hours of the day has shifted significantly. Now, mornings are the one part of the day that belong only to Sam. He doesn’t struggle to greet them now, no matter how startling it is for his alarm to go off and how heavy his body feels as he lays in bed in the moments before rising. The resentment he had once felt with the relentlessness of the arrival of the new day and the necessity of getting up to participate in it is replaced with gratitude. When he first wakes, there are a few moments of listening to his alarm go off where Sam can almost hear the sound of Ola’s voice, singing the song he’d made up so many years ago. Mornings make him miss home, and his father in particular, with a fierceness that makes his chest ache, but he appreciates them for that. The homesickness hurts, the longing for the life he had loved so much and left behind to be here throbbing like his lungs are bruised, but the pain is a reminder of what is important to him and why. Not a day goes by that Sam doesn’t think of the things that are the most important to him, and he wouldn’t want to forget even if he could. The schedule of a Premier League footballer also makes praying on time complicated and difficult at points. This is especially the case when travelling for away matches against clubs whose facilities do not have a dedicated prayer room. Mornings though, the earliest parts of the morning before the sunrise, are Sam’s no matter what, and he holds them precious, going through the well-worn steps of Fajr alone in his house or a hotel room, always on time. He has developed an ever-growing fondness for the cold blue of the watery light that seeps across the horizon just before the sun rises, and for the way his mother always sends him a text when she had finished with her own prayers, every day without fail. There is no time difference between Lagos and London half of the year, and only one hour between them the other half. Although the exact time of the sun’s rising isn’t the same, it’s been a comfort to Sam never the less to think of his family and friends at home going about their lives in tandem with his, despite the difference separating them. When he kneels and presses his forehead to the fabric of the prayer mat the imam of his childhood mosque had presented him before he left, a gift from the community and a token of their pride in him, he imagines his mother and father alongside him doing the same. For those moments, it’s possible to believe that he never left.

[kanekocribs]

KANEKO’S CRIB NOTES LXV: SEVEN SEAS OF CRIBS

Halloween is on the approach, and what could this mean? Tricks, treats? Skeletons, witches, draculae? A child's laughter sounding lightly through the autumn leaves? No, it doesn't mean any of that GARBAGE- it's time for the annual outing of KANEKO'S CRIB NOTES! Please enjoy this smattering of delirious cribs that will make you think "damn, that's the thing that the other thing is based on".

NEZHA: The modern pop sensibility of Soul Hackers is on display in Nezha's Astro Boy inspired design, drawing a parallel between the two "rebuilt" child heroes. It's evident from the twin spikes and whatever the fuck that is, you know, his metallic underwear I suppose.

CHERUB: Following the probably erroneously designated 'Ophanim' from SMTII, and playing on Kaneko's documented fascination with angelkind as spacecraft, this Devil Summoner take on Cherub pushes the concept even further, borrowing a look from the cover of ancient alien classic The Spaceships of Ezekiel by Joseph F. Blumrich. Compare the cover to the Japanese edition that Kaneko was more likely familiar with!

SERAPH: The composition of Seraph's four heads and crossed arms is a likely homage to the iconic cover of 1974's Queen II. Slap that shit on your dorm room wall for a change!

TITANIA: Titania's appearance in SMTII is a slightly embellished take on this Brian Froud illustration of the ghostly Glaistig of Scotland. Thanks to Psiguy for originally sharing this ID from @yen_den, based on a post uploaded to the @theavalonians twitter account!

FIONN MAC CUMHAILL: In the spirit of equanimity, a last addition to the DOI'S CRIB NOTES series: Fionn Mac Cumhaill appears to be inspired by the dress of legendary illustrator J.C. Leyendecker's 'Cu Chulainn Riding His Chariot Into Battle' (1911), from the rectangular pattern of his mail-coat down to the telltale 'X' meander that runs along the fringe of either cloak.

[etruatcaelum]

[ @the-gray-maiden // for glynda ]

"You know, I'm glad you decided to stalk me."

She dredged a wan smile up from somewhere, cupping both hands around the mug of coffee the lone serving girl had slid across the counter just a moment ago. “I’ll admit,” Glynda said wryly, “I didn’t expect to find you here. But it’s always good to see a familiar face.” A beat. Her mouth curved down. “A friendly face.”

The edge in her tone wasn’t meant for Lia. Glynda could only hope it would be taken for mere fatigue—stress—goodness knew she had no shortage of both. She exhaled a lengthy sigh and watched the steam rising from her coffee dance. “I just came down to… well. It’s a few weeks since we last heard from Wintergreen. Times being what they are…”

None of the outlying communities to the north of Vale had been lost since the night Beacon fell—yet. Glynda felt the weight of that yet on her shoulders every day. But she’d arrived in the morning to find nothing amiss except that the local relay tower had been damaged by a recent storm, and that was quite easily fixed.

“Have you been,” she added curiously, “staying here? Or are you just passing through?”

[peaches2217]

Me, waking up from a dead sleep in a cold sweat: DAMMIT IT WAS CRADLE NOT A CRIB! I’M AN IDIOT!