#i wonder how vertin felt when she learned Sonetto wanted toffee

[sleeplesssmoll]

Analysis: Another perspective into Sonetto and Vertin's complicated childhood relationship using new information from Green Lake.

We know Vertin and Sonetto were not on good terms after the frog event in the hallway but after playing through Green Lake, I think Vertin still tried to befriend Sonetto. She didn't give Sonetto things from the outside world, but instead she shared her toffees. Even if they didn't speak much (Vertin mentions this when Sonetto gave her notebook. It's rare for Sonetto to talk to her first), this says volumes about their relationship to me.

Vertin, who's love language is giving/providing, found a way to give Sonetto things without making her mad. Perhaps it was more than her being nice. She wanted to befriend Sonetto, but she didn't know how to bridge the gap since her interests are the main reason they don't get along. They had nothing to bond over, but Smoltin did her best to build something. Sonetto also didn't hate the brat, but she didn't like the rule-breaking. She accepted the toffees because they didn't break the rules.

During the Green Lake event, we see Sonetto decipher Jessica’s learning style and modify her lessons around it. Sonetto is very observant.

Back to Vertin and Sonetto's childhood, What if Sonetto knew Vertin was trying to bridge the gap because giving is how she shows affection? She didn't care about the flavor. In fact, she admits she can't remember what they tasted like. But they were a gift from Vertin and she accepted them instead of breaking her heart again.

Vertin was trying to mend things but she wasn't the charismatic Timekeeper then. She was a kid who really wanted the girl sitting next to her to talk to her. She's genuinely surprised when Sonetto comes to her first after the Parade Protest, which ngl breaks my heart.

She couldn't fathom Sonetto checking up on her because she assumes Sonetto doesn't like her. Placing that into context, she “knew” Sonetto didn't like her, but Sonetto “likes” the toffees she shares with so she continued to share. The pining is real.

Unlike everyone else at the Foundation, Sonetto isn't a victim of her cheeky comebacks. Vertin is unusually quiet and soft spoken when she talks to Sonetto by time the Parade comes around. There's no playfulness in her tone or dry humor.

But her efforts were not in vain. Sonetto was highly aware of her deskmate.

When Vertin was hurt, what did Sonetto do after they spoke again?

She gave Vertin her notebook.

Sonetto isn't like Vertin with a bunch of random crap in her pockets to share, but she shared something very dear to her and wrote little notes to her in the margins. While Vertin was in a coma, Sonetto annotated her notes with the intention of Vertin reading them (can be found in Ch3 Atlas). She even left a little get-well-soon message at the end. The highly focused, no nonsense Sonetto wrote annotations in a way someone like Vertin would understand by associating them with things she might be familiar with. She's trying to speak Vertin's language because she gets that one part of her deskmate.

She is trying to wrap her head around Vertin too, even if it's not obvious in her interactions.

Vertin still has the notebook Sonetto gave her.

Moving on, Vertin might learn in a similar fashion to Jessica. Afterall, Sonetto's notes were effective at keeping her out of the guardhouse.

Vertin is a tactile person. Sonetto teaches Jessica about tangible cognition in a way similar to the notes she gave to Vertin through associations.

It's frustrating to think how much these two understood each other yet kept missing the mark because of the Foundation! Also, we can see Sonetto was distracted in some of her notes when Vertin was no longer at her side. Vertin was always a distraction, especially when she's not around.

Sonetto wanted Vertin to succeed. She wanted her to stop getting punished and just listen to the Foundation. However, once Vertin's made up her mind to leave Sonetto fights by her side, because she in fact does care about Vertin. She doesn't understand her completely, but she gets that this is important for Vertin.

And maybe at the back of her mind, seeing Vertin shot down in front of her finally planted that seed of doubt.

Sonetto never tattled in game, but she threatened to. Why? Because Vertin was going to get punished and she wanted to prevent that. Unfortunately, she couldn't. I wonder if that frustrated her? Did she see the bruises when Vertin shared her toffees after seeing Tooth Fairy? Did she feel helpless? Angry? If she's observant, she must have seen them.

In hindsight we can see TWO IDIOT CHILDREN WHO NEEDED TO HUG IT OUT.