#doll play is so much fun ........

[mymp3]

drag redesigns

[castielsprostate]

supernatural 2026 destiel but dean is immediately killed off by a torpedo through his penis after the reuniting kiss between him and castiel. jensen starts playing jorid, the secret fourth winchester brother and shoots misha collins in the iron hips for castiel to be recast by timothee chalemet (he has musical numbers now). jared padalecki is burned at the stake for unrelated reasons and his charred corpse plays sam winchester. no one notices the difference

[malifiquemakes]

Obito's Body

When your childhood friend dies and comes back wrong, so you gotta stab them in the tit heart to lift The Curse (and maybe make out with them a lil bit).

[crystallizsch]

Hi, request here. Ignore it if you want. I'm not sure if you did this already and I'm too lazy to check, but could you put Jamil in Playful stage (whatever it's called) dress and Kalim in the masquerade dress

playful dress jamil & masquerade kalim!!! :DDD

so uhhh here’s my really rough and simplified take on it??? i hope the colors look at least decent bc i was so indecisive on that part 🧍

and thank you so much for this idea!! i’ve especially been meaning to try to imagine kalim’s masquerade outfit so you gave me an excuse to do so!!

anyways i was REALLY going back and forth between sticking to the theme and just putting them on what i think looks good and i think i just. managed to do a small compromise.

also forgive me the only thing i know about about playful stage is the fox man. i haven’t seen the story 💀 (i kinda only know that it’s based on pinocchio)

so i just went off every character's playful dress outfit and took inspiration here and there (and mostly from kalim's)

also i noticed the ribbons vs tassels in the outfits, dont know what that’s about so i just. settled with tassels.

same thing with kalim i just took from jamil's masquerade outfit but flipped it and made the headwear pointier.

and i just took a few artistic liberties here and there ;;;

also i highkey avoided the elaborate patterns because im not too confident with coming up with them 😖

that’s about some of my thought process??? i’m fine with any questions if any!!

[rileys-battlecats]

girl help I started writing down oc thoughts and have started contemplating the logistics of how a city carved into the walls of a ravine would have access to fresh water

[thirdeyeblue]

“Nine would have treated Martha better than Ten did”

I need to talk about this argument that never seems to stop circulating.

Note: Not a venomous/anti post. There’s more than enough of that across fandom spaces as is, and this is supposed to be a place for ✨sweet, blissful escapism✨

When making this argument, people seem to envision a scenario in which Nine never met Rose.

While I can appreciate a good hypothetical, recognizing Rose's significance to the Doctor (Nine and Ten) is essential to understanding why things with Martha played out the way they did in the first place.

In the third series, the Doctor is grieving. This grief is deliberately threaded into nearly every script, whether spoken aloud or not (and these are just a few examples):

He's burning in Rose’s wake the entire time Martha travels with him, which is why it’s so frequently called upon: It’s 100% deliberate in framing his grief. He grieved as Nine too, of course— having been fresh on the heels of the Time War — but then he met Rose, which changed everything.

Back then, he was still a rude, traumatized pain in the ass, but we watch Rose soften more of those jagged edges with every episode as they grow closer; as he lets his guard down and forms a deep connection with her.

He falls in love (against his better judgment) and it's game over.

And yes: provided S1E1 had been titled 'Martha', one can realistically assume things might have unfolded similarly to how they did with Rose. However, it wouldn’t have been that way just because the Doctor was Nine and “Nine was different” — it would be because he wasn’t already in love with someone else. The same can't be said for the start of S3.

Think of it like this: if Rose AND Martha had been in that cellar — if Nine had taken both of them along with him in S1 — we’d eventually be looking at the most melodramatic love triangle ever, what with him living in close quarters with two brilliant, gorgeous, compassionate young women... But Doctor Who is plenty “soap opera” as is with just one woman in the TARDIS.

(I certainly wouldn’t object to reading that fic, though)

Now, regarding the unrequited elephant in the room…

His inability to be romantic with Martha isn’t because he thinks her lesser, nor is it for lack of compatibility. It isn't because Rose is any better than her. It certainly isn’t just because he’s Ten.

It’s really only for one reason, which can't be denied — and now I’m a broken record:

He is still in love with Rose.

(cut from a tenrosedaily gif)

Nine is Ten, and Ten is only such a mess in S3 because he’s just lost the love of his life. Martha merely got caught in the crosshairs of a volatile Time Lord in mourning, and yes — it sucks. Absolutely.

But it also feels dismissive to chalk Ten and Martha’s relationship up to little more than some sort of mindless dance of pining, jealousy, and toxicity.

Ten trusted Martha with his life over and over again — and hers, with him. He constantly praised her brilliance, happily carting her around time and space with no intention of letting her go. In the BBC’s extended universe of novels/comics/cartoons/etc, there’s so much depth to their relationship: love and trust and trauma and sacrifice. They had their own special bond as mates, their own complexities — so it’s a bummer that it's forever overshadowed by the other things.

I’m not denying that there was a lot of stuff that sucked/was for sure toxic about Ten's S3 behavior, but so many of the things I've seen him catching flak for can be directly attributed to being A Clueless Fucking Alien Idiot (not a trait that’s unique to Ten) — as well as his flat-out obliviousness to Martha’s feelings.

So yes, I agree: if Rose never existed, he would have treated Martha differently as Nine. He also would have treated her differently as Ten. Certainly.

But Rose did exist, and when discussing canon, it matters.

“He tells me that he absolutely, 100% loves Rose... He tells me how my daughter; my wonderful, beautiful, clever little girl saved him from himself before… And he says that’s all because of me! I made her into the Rose Tyler that saved him.”

-Jackie Tyler, Flight Into Hull!

Martha got the short end of the stick in S3. She came round at the wrong place and time, but that doesn't mean it was all bad. It doesn't mean the Doctor didn’t adore her. It certainly doesn't mean the time they spent together was wasted or worthless. They were brilliant!

Sure, he could be a twat, but let it be known that he was a twat with Rose as well, both as Nine and Ten. I’m sure Tentoo can be plenty infuriating, too. So while I'll defend Ten (and Tentoo) into the ground forever and ever and ever, I'll concede that he's fucked up.

The Doctor is a certified Pain In The Ass. It’s one of the things I love so much about this character — dynamics.

But never forget that Martha was goddamn tough as nails and overcame every bit of it. She moved on with her life, and the Doctor moved on with his. One can only pray that, when they inevitably drag her back onto the show (which feels inevitable if I'm honest), we see at once that she's been living her best life for all these years.

[antariies]

being overwhelmingly white isn’t unique to gw2blr in fact i’d say most fandoms on tumblr are like that. but sometimes when ppl are like “why are there so few poc in this space?” it’s not because none of us are interested in gw2. it’s because, unintentionally or not, you guys have curated a space that is so unwelcoming and uncomfortable to poc that it dissuades us from engaging at all and, on occasion, has driven us out.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

here have a Lights Out meme(?) before i go to bed <3 Wally is showing off a neat party trick to his newfriend <3

og:

[hazzybat]

I love playing with my .PNGs like dolls.

I'm referencing this tumblr post btw:

[bonkalore]

So the scepter here is what makes you Primus, who is in charge of all of the magic world basically... and is also the key to opening the coffer to the rest of the Dread magic that Jayce has been trying to get this entire time. He thought it was something he could start "a new Golden Age of Magic" with, but eventually realized it would only do more harm than good and now is out of plans as he's being torn apart from the Dread.

In the AU towards the end of the story, he and Lucy got the scepter together but he's the one that technically got it, even tho he gave it to Lucy so she could become Primus and avoid further temptation.

So during Lucy's coronation, the scepter ends up shooting across the room into his hands in the audience bc he's the actual owner. This isn't just his nerves about becoming Primus instead and is FAR, far worst unfortunately... Apocalyptically bad even! 8')

Was everything he had wanted before and now it's a literal nightmare.

(Also "Everything You Ever" from Dr. Horrible's Sing-ALong Blog is very fitting for this part whoops.)

[fate-defiant]

malenmalenmalenmalenmalenmalenmalenmalen

[lesbian-space-fish]

🗡🗡knives done :3

[intertexts]

oh you wanna think about muse and trickster? yeah? it's been a while since I put a heartbreaking nhw post in your inbox <3 I know u love the prime dehumanization loss of bodily autonomy defenders. << im not even remotely trying to keep the acronym the same anymore. I've lost the plot. ANYWAY

briefly mentioned this before but because I loooove the aesthetic so much I think at least one important muse confrontation should happen in the tricksters city, specifically in the amusement park. make it like a fuckign scooby door episode everything is all abandoned and run down but as the wards are walking down a boardwalk or something all the lights flicker on and some distorted fuckign. carnival music starts playing and they find muse sitting in like. the rebar scaffolding or whatever in the ferris wheel. just like grinning chin in hands kicking his feet watching them. this image is so clear in my mind. some creep shit !!!! also its like when they first go to the spirit world to get tide back from.mal and end up in the amusement park. except ashe isn't with them this time

uhhhhhh also thinking about. downtime. when muse isn't out being destructive and causing chaos for funsies. like... does he have a bedroom????? does he eat does he sleep??? idfk !!!! I would assume he has to or else he'd fucking die but !!!! man the trickster is so far gone I don't think he even realizes his puppets are real people anymore. that's a fun little doll for him to play dressup with. literally never going 2 get the image of him braiding muses hair and like. putting makeup on him and dressing him in fancy little outfits out of my mind. making myself ILL. smile! good evening I'm gently placing the knife box in your in. << as I was going to type inbox I accidentally typed out inventory. yknow what I'm keeping it. knife box directly into your inventory. watch out they're RUSTY

GOD. THANKS FOR THE KNIFE BOX MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! knife box directly in my inventory!!! u know what this means is that now i can use them :3 <- has been drawing wards stuff abt this for the past two hours ^_^

this is so fucking good though yeahhh.... i love creepy carnival shit so much. he trickster probably Knows it's very over the top and horror movie creepy and just a little absurd. he's so fucking fun 2 think abt since he's literally always doing shit simply because it is funny to him. we can swing a trickster justification for anything probably. i bet he fucking saw traps people!! anyway. ashe isn't with them this time. except..... well. he kind of is. :(

I HAVE ALSO BEEN THINKING ABT DOWNTIME. FREQUENTLY. i guess. the answer to this is he lives however the trickster&co does. the image of him coming back in his fancy intricate little outfits to some disgusting nasty bloody industrial warehouse where they're posted up & always being this very jarring contrast to the gore and violence is really good. the image of him having a perfect doll bedroom and going through a fancy little routine half the nights when the trickster is in a good mood or feeling it & just. getting thrown on the bed & the door locked to pass out for a couple hours whenever he forgets or is busy is also really good. literally anything we do to muse makes me feel some kind of way man. i also have had the extremely vivid image of the trickster braiding his hair & chatting about all kinds of horrific things excited sleepover style to muse who is just. Visibly Not There in my head for so long. not even like he has to touch him, he could be making him do all these things for himself! he's literally controlling him! he just does it for fun!!!

anyway i think post-muse ashe should get to freak out very badly in a multitude of ways whenever anybody touches his hair. like i think he's touch-adverse in general (& miserable about it because he's also so touchstarved & his brain simply whites out in distress anytime anyone touches him because. literally the only person doing that was the trickster!!!!) but i think specifically his hair being messed with is a bad trigger for him. makes him freeze up n go nonverbal for hours. dakota knows that he's jumpy about touch but he still wants to do something for him & before the everything he loved them playing with his hair (its so long!! wibby & dakota think its so pretty!! virion's the only one who knows how to braid it because of his mom!! ashe melts into a puddle over it every time because nobody's ever done that for him before!) so he goes to just run fingers through it & ashe just. fullbody locks up and goes weird and still and silent & doesn't protest or fight back when dakota shakes his shoulder or smth and his eyes are distant and sort of dark and empty like virion's were most of the time when they first met him... maybe he wants to cut it a little bit just because he hates that it's been covered in The Ooze and he can't do anything with it without thinking about how the trickster would do the same thing but also he hates the idea of getting rid of the one thing abt himself that he really likes & is a little connection with both of his parents because of the trickster also, when he's already taken so much from him. (it does have to get gross and tangled and matted because he refuses to put it back or do anything to it for a while though. maybe virion helps him sort it out & it's slow and painstaking and miserable for both of them and they both feel better at the end of it.)

[bacchuschucklefuck]

Can you expand on what you mean by Baron being "too cool" to really fit a horror monster? It's a very interesting concept and I'd love to hear your thoughts. Is it that they're too active/involved/tangible and it detracts from their scariness?

I feel like I should preface this with a wall of disclaimers lmao 1/I am a hardcore, down-to-the-marrow, avid, deeply sincere horror enthusiast, esp. horror creatures. this usually means my mileage is vastly different from the average populace's, and my scaredy bone has been disintegrated by longterm exposure. most things in a piece of horror media won't scare me! so I practically never use that on its own as the scale to talk abt horror experiences, but when something does scare me it's always a special occasion to be treasured. 2/canon d20 is never really meant to be horror horror, and for good reasons: it doesn't fit the company's output, it takes a kind of carelessness in production estimation that is always a huge risk, it's often vulnerable in a way that kinda goes against how TTRPGs usually facilitates vulnerability, and for most people it's just! stressful! d20, even with the "horror-themed" seasons, generally just plays with horror tropes and stays focused in its goal of being a comedy improv tabletop theater show. 3/fantasy high's chosen system is DnD, which as I've mentioned before is before all a combat-based game system, which means the magic circle of play is drawn based on stats that facilitate and prioritize combat. want or not this affects every interaction you have in the game, and given fantasy high's concept from the ground up (everyone's going to school of DnD stuff to get better at DnD) it's doubly relevant. 4/This Is Fine I have no quarrel with this. my meters are internal, I do not ask this show to be anything it doesn't advertise itself to be, and what it is is fucking great! I like it! when I expand on this ask's question it will be like a physicist going insane in a lab. that's the mindset we're going in with.

disclaimers done. my stance on horror as a genre is that it's a utility genre rather than a content genre or a demographic genre; it is the discard of narratives. it's the trash pile. horror, above being scary, is about being ugly and messy, it's the cracks on the ground any story inevitably steps over to stay a genre that isn't horror. the genre's been around long enough to develop a codex and a general language that medias and makers and enthusiasts of the genre can use to talk about and build onto, but if you go into individual pieces there's really no unifying Horror Story. one person's beautiful life can be another's horror story, it's just how it is.

this makes The Monster a deeply intriguing piece of the genre. thing is a monster is in a decent percentage of any story - it's just when the antagonist force steps into something past a certain line traced out in the story's world. monstrousness is in pretty much every western fantasy story, it's in any story with a hero and something to vanquish or win; more than anything it's a proxy of that thing up there. the line in a narrative's world. the monster is the guard of the unknown lands, where heroic, civilized people don't tread.

what does this mean in the context of horror? the genre is about that perceived lawlessness, that "unknown land" so to say. we're in the monster's home. that's the literary context that we often walk into a horror piece with; the monster knows more than you about where you are. it may not understand you, but it holds more information than you, and with that it moves swifter than you, has more covered than you, and is more assured in its existence in this context than you. it's a struggle to catch up to it, it's nigh impossible to get one over it, and you're never sure it'll 100% work, because you just don't have the information necessary to.

with that framing you can kinda see where I'm coming from here: horror's often about the breaking of rules. I always think a monster's most effective when it breaks well-established rules of both existence and visual storytelling. think Possum (2018) or Undertale's Omega Flowey or the Xenomorph Queen - unique change in medium, unique change in graphic, unique change in design language, etc. in that sense I actually really like how canon baron plays out: they don't really function like anything else in the fantasy high universe, the bad kids have not managed to kill them when they've felled literal gods, their domain in fhjy literally introduces new mechanics to encompass their existence! from an experience design standpoint they slap mad shit. BUT! I can't help finding their character, like as a character riz (and the other bad kids, eventually) interact with, to be very... coherent? in design. this is kinda hard for me to articulate in words, it's more often a sense you get once you've looked at enough of these scrumptious fuckers, their general design and the way they show up is just kinda too clean, so to say. always kinda newly made? fresh unboxed. it, once again, makes sense for their lore - they are looking for more about themself from riz - and their function - they're an antagonist in a game experience, they're meant to be interacted with in a way that produces results and meshes with the existing magic circle - but that shininess takes away from the implied history they should have dominion over and the person they're haunting doesn't.

from another angle there is kinda something there about how put-together canon baron is as a concept; the domain they call home is riz's deep-seeded fears, extremely vulnerable things he's drawn borders around to quarantine and refused to walk into. things that from his perspective would irreversibly shatter certain pleasant fictions his world is built on top of. canon baron, While Extremely Cool, I feel is kinda too neat to connect with and signify the apocalyticized mess that'd result from this paradigm shift. the part where they're in riz's briefcase and looking through every mirror is Very Cool And Fucked Up! but ultimately the show draws a line around them as well, by making game-physical, tangible spaces they're in (the mirrors and the haunted mordred manor) and put riz and the bad kids there only when they need to confront stuff. riz is meaningfully narratively away from baron's unknown land for most of fantasy high.

with that and all of my disclaimers in mind my conclusion here is if canon baron wants to be a Horror Monster they'd have to cross way more lines. be a Lot more invasive. hence (holds up my class swap baron like a long cat)

[ct-multifandom]

I don’t usually make posts like this, but I’ve been seeing a lot of anti-intellectual junk lately, and I really think we need to put the word “pretentious” up on a shelf until people learn what it actually means.

It doesn’t describe someone who likes artsy-fartsy deep meaning media. People who are pretentious are fake. They’re posers trying to be sophisticated and unique, not like other girls. They pretend to only like stuff they think will make them sound cool when they talk about it. They want to act like they know something you don’t, and they want attention for it.

By definition, if you genuinely enjoy something, you can’t be pretentious. If it resonates with you, and you analyze it, and you don’t care what people think, that’s the polar opposite, actually. If you love obscure experimental prog music, if you watch underground high concept indie films through English teacher eyes, if you spend hours in a modern art museum reading each piece as a vessel for storytelling, if your backpack’s full of poetry books that inspire you, if you play underrated games that were someone’s passion project, if you have an interest in studying the classics or the masters, you are not pretentious.

Of course, some people just don’t like some stuff, and that’s fine, but that’s not what this is about. Don’t let anti-intellectuals shame you for enjoying things just because your interests are inaccessible to them, because they refuse to be brave and put effort into critical thinking. You’re not stuck up for refusing to overlook the craft of artists.

[tunastime]

Hi I’m never leaving you alone with these prompts—Ingo and Emmet (with an Apricot, if it works) in Unova + “look at the moon…” ? I’m being vague with this one to see where you may take it, but I hope it sparks somethin in your brain :>

HI myke! So I completely disregarded your prompt in favor of doing what you asked me in my dms LOL (something along the lines of putting our ocs/my oc in with the twins). So, happy belated birthday, here's this finally posted! (1182 words) (x)

Like two nesting wingull, Apricot and Marlow huddle together in the empty stands of the practice stadium. It's well after closing now, though the floodlights still cast their white-silver across the length of the astro-turf and chalk field. Apricot blows into his cupped hands, trying to warm his cold-numbed fingers. Marlow, on the contrary, looks content in his parka, scarf wound tight around his nose and mouth. Apricot grumbles.

Below them on the still-crunchy grass, Ingo and Emmet chatter among themselves. Apricot watches them knock into each other playfully as Emmet pats the massive form of Eelektross beside him. Haxorus shuffles beside Ingo, sniffing his jacket collar as the two pace back to their imaginary starting points. Apricot sinks back in his chair, still trying to warm his hands.

"You look cold," Marlow laughs. "Why didn't you bring gloves?"

Apricot frowns. "I didn't think it would be that cold, alright?" He hunkers into the fabric of his scarf, throwing a squinting glance over to Marlow. Marlow laughs, throwing himself back.

"It's not your first Unova winter, Apri!"

"That doesn't matter!" He squeaks. "It feels colder than Hisui. Maybe if my clothes were better insulated."

"Maybe if you wore gloves," Marlow hums, looking back to the field below them. The lights reflect off the white of Emmet's duster as he darts around. "Or a hat?"

Apricot grumbles. Instead, he watches the twins below shuffle around each other, throwing out barely heard words and jeers as Haxorous and Eelektross throw electric sparks and mud back and forth. Eelektross shudders out a bolt of electricity that Haxorous barely dodges, and Apricot barely restrains the groan of frustration that bubbles up in his chest. It seems that, in the midst of his complaining, he'd forgotten the real reason he and Marlow are here. He pulls his knees up, going quiet for a moment as he peers over them at the practice field below. Marlow’s expression softens in his peripheral vision. He tilts his head as he watches Ingo and Emmet, the crackle of energy and elements a few yards from the two of them. 

Only a handful of days prior, the two were sprawled out on Apricot’s living room rug, a stack of magazines and costume patterns between them as Marlow pitched outfit designs half-heartedly. It was late—maybe that was half the reason Apricot had even gotten the idea in the first place—but all at once, he had flopped onto his stomach, and said, mostly into the carpet:

“Would it be a good idea for us to ask Ingo and Emmet?”

Marlow sat up, dog-earing a magazine page.

“For what?” he asked. “For—not for outfit inspiration, right?”

“No—” Apricot squeaked. “No, not that. For—we’re having trouble syncing up, right? So why not ask the two most in-sync people we know for tips. So we can get our moves to look good.”

“Two strongest people we know, too,” Marlow hummed. Apricot peered an eye at him, half-obscured by the crush of his cheek and hair that had pooled over his shoulder. Marlow shrugged, nodding slightly.

“Do you think they’d let us shadow a practice?” Apricot asked. Another shrug, but this time, more curious and less contemplative. 

“It’ll probably be really early in the morning,” he said. “If you can stand to be up that early.”

He prodded Apricot with a socked foot, jerking back, snorting when Apricot swatted him away.

“I’ll be fine,” Apricot grumbled. 

Now, awake but cold, the tips of his ears red and nose running, Apricot sits in the stands, watching, eyes flicking back and forth between the two twins in a vain attempt to catch any sort of new movement, any sort of information he could to store away for their performance. Which is what it was, really, more than a battle. If the two of them could make a normal two-versus-two look like dance, rather than a display of strength, they would be more and more likely to look good in contest. When no damage had to be done, they could focus solely on looking the part, rather than being the strongest. From beside him, Buizel nuzzles her head into the side of Apricot’s leg, weaseling between his thigh and his shoulder. He lets her rest her large, warm head on his lap as he watches Emmet call out to Eelektross over the throw of Ingo’s voice.

Despite fighting against each other, the two seemed to move like the balance of a scale, tipping this way and that as they defended themselves. Marlow leans until they’re shoulder to shoulder, eyes wide and focused on Ingo’s movements. It isn’t long until the two are shouting over each other, promptly startling Buizel under the stand beside them. Marlow flings himself up as Haxorous manages to slam into Eelektross, and both pokemon go down in a heap. He cheers, shaking Apricot back and forth as Ingo jogs over to collect his pokemon.

With Emmet beaming and Ingo laughing to himself, the twins wander to the stands. Marlow meets them halfway, leaning over the small railing as Ingo rests his back against it.

“That was amazing!” Marlow says breathlessly.

“Is it starting to make sense?” Emmet asks, tilting his head toward Apricot. Apricot slowly unravels himself, shuffling over to the side of the bannister. Finally warm enough to unstick his shoulders from his ears, he grins.

“A bit—I was telling Marlow earlier, it’s… almost like a dance,” he starts, sticking his hands in his pockets. He blows away a tuft of hair as it threatens to fall in his face. “I mean,  you two know each other well enough to predict attacks and prepare for them, but even if we’re not really fighting in contest, we should probably do the same thing. Fight with each other enough to predict the next move.”

Ingo nods.

“You do a lot of fighting together,” he says, nodding. “But fighting against each other might help you cement some of your more typical move-sets. Or at least know how someone might respond.”

“Sounds like more double-battles,” Apricot snorts, elbowing Marlow beside him. “Maybe we can rope Chance and Damon in, too.”

“Sunny can ref,” Marlow grins. Apricot laughs, knocking his shoulder into Marlow hard enough for both of them to wobble. Marlow shoves back, until the two of them are leaning hard into each other as Ingo and Emmet look on. Despite the puzzles expression that crosses Emmet’s face, Ingo says:

“How about one more before we wrap up?”

Apricot beams. 

“My money’s still on Emmet,” he says, giving a weak, one-handed salute. Emmet returns the gesture enthusiastically.

“You two ready?” he asks as he paces back. With a wave of his hand, Galvantula weasels free of her pokeball, chittering happily as Emmet pats her large head. Chandelure swirls next to Ingo’s shoulder, her purple-blue lamplight throwing eerie shadows back against his face. Marlow finally slumps over the railing, still laughing to himself.

“As we’ll ever be,” he says. 

Taking their places once again, the twins start their battle. This time, Apricot tells himself, he’s going to take many mental notes.