#will i be changing this up eventually? probably

[themagicmusicman]

quick context: character im doing is shå; she is the girlfriend of angu, one of the main characters in neim’s worldbuilding project, kunirn. shå uses she/her, angu uses she/ her, kik (angu’s close friend/basically brother at this point lmao) uses he/xey 👍

1. i reckon she’s usually too busy beating people up to have other hobbies but like. does cooking count as crafting? she crafts. food lmao

2. this bitch might be trans but she wears the manliest man cologne lmfao like. whatever the kunirn equivalent of something tobacco, sandalwood and orange would smell like. man shite /fem

3. fuck yeah!!! that’s basically the main thing she does besides being gay and fighting people

4. mmmm not really, unless her and angu are baking together for the sillies (kik sometimes joins in too)

5. yeah!! she has the Ǎtrothang mark on her right shoulder (shown at the bottom of the post) as well as loads of others hjehekr

6. probably kik (angu’s friend n basically non blood brother) bcs xey seem like they would work the best under pressure and know first aid. all that shit yknow [update. neim told me that kik is canonically good at patching people up so i was right!]

7. bitch isnt scared of anything except her parents, and thats fairly normal i think. guys thats normal. right. ri-

8. yeah she probably has the weirdest collections of shit. stuff like bones, eyeballs, that kinda thing

9. she usually tries to just wait it out and continue whatever she’s doing, but when it gets so bad she can’t, she just leeches to angu until it goes away

10. not standing up to her parents’ bullshit :[

11. ehhhh probably not anything. canon but she seems like the kind of person who would

12. oh yeah shå has amazing style /gen this bitch dresses like the most butch lesbian. also she’s just hot lmao (evidence at tje bottom)

13. not in the slightest lmao

14. absolutely. it took her close to a year to open up to angu about her parent bs so. yeah just a bit

15. she’s just a silly lil guy. the sillies! silly and tiny and definitely doesnt have a really dark/horny sense of humour!

16. nope and nope :D

17. basically never. she stands by what she believes at doesnt bend for anyone

18. easier to become her enemy than her friend :3

19. you have to be pretty awesome she has trust issues lmao

20. meh not really seeing as her life in Ǎtrothang was. pretty traumatising

21. friends. friends for sure

22. never

23. n/a shes immortal /j (in other words doesnt think about dying ever)

24. most people are her enemies :3👍

25. uh morning routine, wake up and get on with the day. evening routine, go to bed and toss n turn until she eventually falls asleep

26. she’s her own hero (aka has no heroes (except maybe kik or angu but thats just her being gay lmao))

27. i mean. her meeting angu was pretty much a chance encounter and that changed her life drastically so!

28. # idontthinkgamingexistslmao

29. i’d want to be but she would scare me 😔

30. she doesn’t want to be famous. the less people who know her, the better

31. i would probably give her some sort of silly telepathic powers, she’d want invisibility

32. being afab (she doesnt mind the dick but she occasionally gets dysphoria thinking that she’s a Fake Woman because she has not biological booba (she is the most womanly woman i know))

33. oh yeah. i think angu, shå and kik would play silly ttrpgs the same way i play dnd with neim and my irl mates

34. terribly. she hides it well, but inside she’s struggling :[[[

35. in charge of her own destiny. fuck the dead gods she’s deciding her fate

36. yes and uh. for legal reasons no /hj

37. she doesn’t really like the gods, n chooses to just kinda. do her own thing lmao (same as angu but less Loud About It /lh)

38. she doesn’t dream (me core)

39. definitely!!! that sounds fun as shit!

40. she would be able to pull it out first try because shes a big strong jerboa. speaking of pulling ou-

41. she hates making mistakes so doesn’t learn from them as much as. promise herself not to make the same mistake again

42. yeh! she speaks mainly speaks rurleki (surprisingly. the language of rurlek) but also speaks atro from living in atrothang

43. fairly well, except mentally. afterwards she’ll freak out but she’s usually fine in the moment

44. only angu, not even kik i dont think

45. wing it gdejdbksbdkf

46. for sure, she probably lies quite a lot lmao

47. she would for quite a few people, ofc including angu and kik

48. in a heartbeat. revenge quest time babyyy!

49. nah she knows the difference. big difference (this is a threat 👍)

50. shes a trans lesbian jerboa!!!!! what is there to not love!!!!!!!!!

@neim-batteries-not-included haiiiiii :3

You've Got Questions and I've Got Answers OC Edition

Do they have any crafting hobbies?

Do they wear perfume/cologne? If so what scents do they prefer?

Do they enjoy cooking?

Do they enjoy baking?

Do they have any tattoos? If so what are they and do they have any special meaning?

If they were badly injured, and for whatever reason couldn't go to a hospital, who would they go to for help?

Do they have any unusual fears?

Do they collect anything? If so what and why?

When they're sick what do they do to feel better?

Do they have any regrets?

Do they have any addictions?

Do they have any sense of style? Regardless of the answer do they believe they have a sense of style?

Do they enjoy poetry?

Do they have a hard time opening up to people?

What kind of sense of humor do they have? Or do they have one at all?

Do they have or want kids?

How easily would they be convinced to do something that goes against their morals?

How easy is it to become their enemy?

How easy is it to become their friend?

Do they have a strong connection to their culture?

What is more important to them, friends or family?

Would they ever betray someone for money?

How would they want to die?

Do they have any enemies?

Do they have a daily/nightly routine?

Have they met any of their heroes? Did they regret it?

Has a chance encounter ever had an unexpected effect on them?

Are they a #gamer?

If they were real would you be friends with them?

If they had the chance to be famous would they take it? If they are famous would they rather they weren't?

What superpower would you choose for them and what would they choose for themselves? If they have one would they choose something else?

If they could change one thing about themselves what would it be?

Do they play ttrpgs? If so what kind of characters do they play? Or are they more likely to GM?

How well do they deal with grief?

Do they believe in fate or do they believe they are in charge of their own destiny?

Would they ever kill someone? Have they already?

Are they religious? If so do they have a strong sense of faith, are they uncertain, or are they somewhere in between?

What are their dreams like? Do they have any recurring dreams/nightmares?

Would they ever crash a wedding?

If they found a sword in a stone would they try to pull it out? How would they react to being able to pull it out or not?

Do they learn from their mistakes?

Can they speak multiple languages? If yes which all do they speak and why?

Can they handle stressful situations?

Who, if anyone, would they trust with their deepest secrets?

Do they plan in advance or just wing it?

Would they lie to get out of trouble?

Would they lie to get someone else out of trouble? Even if they would have to take that someone else's place?

How likely are they to go on a quest for revenge?

Do they have trouble keeping their enemies and their friends straight?

What is your favorite thing about them?

I love these so I figured I'd make one of my own! Just be sure that if you reblog this ask one or two of these to the person you reblogged from (｡•̀���-)✧

[3584-tropical-fish]

Not that anyone asked but looking at a.) the fact that Carpenter says that it’s clay being torn from the riverbank by the floodwaters of the White Gull and b.) The Hjulström Curve:

We can determine that the flow velocity of the White Gull River in TSV45 was approximately 150-300 cm/s.

What does this mean? Absolutely nothing, I’m going to be so honest. I just find this amusing

[boom-bada-boom]

shawn spencer, through a series of comedic should-be-impossible hijinks, gets turned into a cat without anyone knowing its him. he elects to hang around the station and help out however much his four paws can.

hilariously, it doesn’t change that much.

some notes:

hes brownish-orange (kinda like henry’s hair in flashbacks??) which means he is close enough that he has the orange cat curse™

trying to decide on what breed he is. obviously mixed but what is in the mix?? main thoughts are havana, bengal, and siamese

okay final thoughts: bengal-siamese mix with a havana-like coloring for both eyes and coat.

hes a chatty cattyyyyyyyyyy,,,,,,,, yapper frfr

dog-person lassie and cat-person jules (she canonically has two cats)

he is so indecisive on if he should try and communicate that he is shawn to the station. on one hand theyd know hes safe and maybe be able to help him fix this. on the other jules has literally played fetch with him. a few officers have hand fed him. several cat things occurred. he would never live this all down (human shawn after hes asked where he was for like two months: (heavy sweating) i dont remember)

shawn sleeping in lassie’s chair and on his lap. he started doing it for the laughs but now he has realized that oh no this is actually comfy. tragedy.

half the station supports shawn’s cat shenanigans. a third just take videos. the remaining sixth try to call animal control on shawn but he always gets away and hes back in the station like two hours later so eventually they give up lmao

while all this is happening the station is also stressing because of shawn’s disappearance. they cant find any evidence for what happened. shawn went out to pursue a lead and just vanished. consequently, shawn is trying to make them all feel better with cat shenanigans

he refuses to use a litter box. it does not matter that he is so so small now he is using the fucking toilet. (the officers start leaving the bathroom door open a crack so he can slip in lmao)

shawn reading over case files while sitting on them. hes participating (and solving them)

shawn as a human accidentally left a pineapple stress toy in the station (maybe on some forgotten corner of lassie’s desk or smth lmao) and as a cat he rediscovers it and decides to play ball using it. all this to say that people start calling him pineapple because of it. honestly hes quite happy with that name over some other possibilities

jules is the only one allowed to touch the pineapple toy. he doesnt trust lassie not to try and dump it or something like the spiteful person he is and he certainly doesnt want anyone else touching it. (he would allow lassie to touch the pineapple toy if it werent for that fact though)

(shawn very carefully putting the pineapple toy down in front of lassie for the first timeand staring up with his big ole eyes and lassie stares back and externally his expression is hella flat but internally hes like oh no. oh no its growing on me)

BIG NEWS: cats can in fact eat pineapple, just not a lot since as a fruit it has a lot of sugar (not good for cats), HOWEVER… “It’s hard to see why because cats don’t have the taste buds that let them enjoy sweet flavors. The strong sweet and tangy taste of pineapple is mostly lost on them.”

shawn finally managing to get someone (probably buzz) to give him some pineapple only to be utterly HEARTBROKEN bc it DOESNT TASTE LIKE PINEAPPLE ANYMORE !!!!!!!!!

juliet holding him like a little baby as he is purring like a freight train

LASSITER HOLDING HIM LIKE LONGCAT AS HE IS WAILING LIKE THE DAMNED

literallyyyyyy thisss,,,,

he breaks into the chief’s office to lounge on her desk and she gives him hardcore side eye before, after a while, just sighing and starting to pet him. “this station doesn’t exactly need a mascot, you know,” she tells him, to a reply of mrrp, “but i suppose a little bit of cheering up wouldn’t be too bad.” very carefully, she taps him on the nose. “but not too much. this is a serious line of work—no making a mockery of my station.” the dull thunking of a tail smacking repeatedly into solid wood made no promises.

inconceivable amounts of cat fur everywhere and on everyone. no one can brush him because he wriggles away like an eel and dramatically grooms his fur out of their reach. so he just sheds everywhere. hes got a thick coat there is so. much. fur.

he keeps sneaking into crime scenes. no one is sure how but they suspect he is hitchhiking in lassiter’s car. no one can prove it tho bc they cant fucking find him. the crazy thing is that he leads them to evidence sometimes like a narcotics detection dog but with completely random items that usually seem nonsensical at first. until they prove otherwise. consistently.

lassie to himself: man this feels just like dealing with spencer’s psychic shit. weird.

GUS FIGURES IT OUT FIRST. not because he saw anything but he just saw a newspaper about this cat solving crime with the cops and he was like “oh my fucking god. it can’t be.” and then he pulled up to the station yoinked said cat and went to an isolated corner to freak the fuck out with it. “shawn what the hell happened” he goes, and shawn meows with feeling

juliet watching gus talk to pineapple the station cat in the corner of the bullpen: ???????

several cops having the all-important conversation of what to label him as. theres no snappy cat version of K9 they can use. K9 is supposed to sound like “canine” but there’s no letter to cover the fel in“feline”

some say F9 and some say L9 and a few say FL9 or just straight up FEL9

BY THE WAY!!!!! “Police cats are becoming an increasingly popular addition to law enforcement teams around the world. These feline officers are being trained to assist their human counterparts in various aspects of police work, from sniffing out drugs and explosives to providing comfort and emotional support to officers on duty” SND ALSO “Because they are uncommon, police cats receive a lot of press. Many show up regularly in media posts. If your local department has a police cat, don’t be surprised if you see stories about them on the news”

police cats are a real thing!! shawn is not an official police cat but he is at this point an unofficial one. on rare occasions he might even listen to an order or two (the station thinks he may have been specially trained by some probably-illegal group or smth, escaped, and decided to imprint on the station) (btw this is an actual issue with some police cats. as independent creatures theyre not as predictable as dogs and might not follow orders, which is an issue in high stakes situations n shit)

[impossiblepackage]

Not all of these are exactly onomatopoeic, though. Cockadoodledoo is a clear example where it’s more describing what the sound is (the doodle do of a cock) which happily follows the rhythm of the sound. A bunch of these are probably just the word for the noise changing over time. I can see how you’d start off saying wack and it eventually becoming quack. Cats 100% meow. straight up have no idea how I’d describe a pig noise. it’s a snort. don’t know how we got oink out of that

Weird when you first start paying attention to animal noises and realize they don't actually sound like the words we use

[mistresscitrusslice]

The Season 2 Opening. We Must Discuss.

First of all, small beans. Instead of static, lifeless statues, this time we get moving humans. Mel features significantly more than I expected, so she'll probably be a much more major character than I expected for a non-champion character and I'm so happy for her. I believe the use of moving people instead of statues signifies that immense change will be happening. What we thought was literally set in stone in Season 1 will be turned on its head in Season 2.

Okay, on to the really concerning matters.

Yuhuh. Jinx moves too fast for me to get a good screenshot, but she gestures like this around her face a lot. I think we all already know about the Caitlyn-Jinx parallels, but my sister suggests it could be a red herring for the actual resemblances she has to Silco.

Sis gets credit for the following observation, but Caitlyn's daydream sequences about shooting Jinx are controlled and clearly separated from reality unlike Jinx's.

However, sis has not seen ep 2 yet, where Caitlyn does have that moment in the arcade where she shoots her vision of Jinx among the wooden dummies. Not only does this more closely resemble Jinx's hallucinations, it also parallels Jinx shooting the harmless crow in s1 e5. By the time the strike squad are about to leave, she can clearly tell that what she thought might be Jinx was really just a harmless wooden standee. Startling, but harmless. She shoots it anyway.

Caitlyn is totally gonna spiral more, and maybe she'll start losing her grip on reality too, but for now, she has more in common with Silco than she does with Jinx. Did anyone else get reminded of Silco's coat when Ambessa put the supervillain cape on Caitlyn? The collars don't look similar but they still eerily resemble each other, you get me?

Ok back to intro stuff

Vi wipes off her name from her face. That's two tattoos that are rendered impermanent in this opening theme. In the Fenty x Arcane video, they mention that Mel's golden freckles are tattoos. Later in the intro song, we also see her golden freckles gone. Change, impermanence. That seems to be a theme here.

Vi is literally erasing her name from her face. In any normal circumstance, I'd say that means she wants a change of identity, a desire to start over. However, I know that Vi's League lore involves amnesia. Does she really drink herself into that bad of a stupor? Jkjk. I assumed that her amnesia was replaced by the Stillwater imprisonment to explain how she got topside and with the enforcers, but perhaps I was wrong. Maybe they do still intend to go the amnesia or partial amnesia route with her.

The teasers implied that Vi shares the genetic trait that has Jinx predisposed to hallucinations. It's possible that this eventually contributes to her loss of memory, but I wouldn't call it quite yet. However, if this happens during her emo era when I'm assuming she has no support system, she'll be very vulnerable, unlike if it were to happen while she was still partnered with Caitlyn, in which case they could easily fill in most blanks in her memory.

I have no idea what to make of this. It's clear as day what they're paralleling, but why? Why the flashlight scene? My best guess is that they're trying to draw on déjà vu, implying a repetition of history, but why this particular moment? They could've easily chosen anything else in Jayce's s1 arc. He has many more memorable moments than this. Let's see, I'm literally making this up as I go.

This meeting was a pivotal moment for Jayce. Both his meeting with Viktor and his meeting with Mel changed his fate. The Viktor one is pretty self-explanatory, but without meeting Mel, they would've both just gotten exiled or locked up again. With Mel, they had someone in power who could vouch for them.

That begs the question, is Jayce meeting someone new? Or is this a reintroduction to someone he's already known before, a new meeting after a long time apart or after a significant change, maybe a change in them both. I believe it must be someone who was involved in the original hallway scene.

Jayce is either looking at Mel again or at Viktor. Given the amount of Viktor/Mel parallels in Season 1, I believe Jayce is looking at Viktor after he's undergone his likely final evolution. That'll obviously be another pivotal moment for him... but will it be a good one like it was with Mel? Viktor has power now. He's performing miracles. He's, like, two steps away from parting the Pilt River like it's the Red Sea. He seems to hold a grudge against Jayce, though, for *checks notes* saving his life? Jk I know he feels like he's losing autonomy and like Jayce didn't respect his wishes with the Hexcore and Jayce obviously couldn't let Viktor die when he'd fought so hard to stay alive before.

Anyway, I feel like this could easily be both a good omen and a bad omen for Jayce. More than anything, I feel like it'll be an epiphany. He is quite literally seeing the light. The light at the end of the dark tunnel? The light of the heavens at the end of his life? The light of a revelation sent by a god he once knew as a man?

Seeing Mel screaming bloody murder during the opening, this was the first place my mind went to. The pose doesn't match up exactly, and Jinx/Powder's screams are definitely wilder, but I feel like there's definitely something here. Is there anyone else who screams like this, thrusting their head forward and keeping their arms back?

We also see the shadow hands from this earlier shot:

I'm thinking of the Black Rose (is that their name?) kidnapping her in thin air, incorporeal hands reaching at her and snatching my joy the love of my life Mel away. It could also represent people grasping at the power Mel wields, both as the wealthiest Council member and as a Noxian princess, one of the closest people to Ambessa, the one wielding the most power right now.

Mel is really out of her depth right now. Her power and influence is up for grabs if she dares to blink and let her guard down. I'm also surprised that we don't see her fight back at all when there's danger around. I thought she might have more battle experience as she was raised by Ambessa. For those people wondering about her magical powers, I think she would've used them by now if she had them. Council attack aside, which could've been Viktor's magic, she wasn't able to do anything about the memorial attack or her own kidnapping. I think they're trying to show us that Mel is not as untouchable as she presents herself. Under the right circumstances, she's just as vulnerable as any civilian.

The sliver of light? My sister pointed out that it looks just like the crack of light between two double doors. Almost closed... or barely open? It appears in pretty much everyone's shot in the opening, but it's right down the center of Mel's face here. Is she torn between two sides? Is this about an impossible choice she has to make?

The spotlight is also on her. That's two sources of light. It looks like a red sun. All eyes on her as the surviving voice of the Council?

And her expression... shock, fear, horror. The heavy breathing, the look on her face... I feel eerily like I've seen it on someone else before. I can't place who, but I'm getting déjà vu from this. Does anyone else recognize this expression and these mannerisms?

[lavender-butterfly-cookie]

I would love to see a second part of Forgotten Friends

One where the beast eventually realized that they blew stuff out of proportion and, because of that, their friend was basically forced to betray them, but they have no one to blame but themselves

And by the time they realized and are out of their prison

Reader cookie can varely remember them, they do remember they used to be friends, but all their evil deed have replaces most happy memories and Reader has a hard time being able to trust or even be near them

Patience is a strong thing, but time is more

The SoulJam of Patience has follow their tittle, now it's Their turn to use it

I like your style dear butterfly.

Forsaken, Forgotten, Un-Forgiven

previous part

Where does one even begin to express how much patience you've lost? How does one even begin to accept your friends have become nothing more but shells of their former selves? How does one learn to forgive them for forcing you to betray them? As hard as it is to believe, it starts with an apology.

After sealing your friends away all those years ago, it took you immense amounts of patience before you could face the world again. It took you so much patience to adjust and make new friends. So much patience to finally feel free about revealing who you really are. Patience to accept that they were gone and they weren't coming back. It took a long time, but you endured it. And it was worth it.

But it wasn't.

You found yourself face to face with five shards of tinted glass, all representing a shard from what was broken long ago. You barely remembered any of them, but that doesn't mean you forgot them and their evil deeds completely

The blue shard, who had once been your source of knowledge and guidance, now full of cracks that mimicked the web of deceit it was entangled in. You remember how the threads of that web were used to puppet and control the lives of the innocent, forcing them to fight for his own twisted little show.

The white shard, who had one been the holder of the virtue known as volition, now flavorless and apathetic soul devoid of any meaning. You remember how easily she turned everything to flour with just a simple motion of her hand. And you knew she did it because she saw little to no value in living a life with the inevitable end known as death

The red shard, who was once the herald of change in itself, now a destructive and merciless monster who sees no point in creation when it's bout to wither away eventually. You remember how he had destroyed countless homes and lives, all because he was bored.

The pink shard, who was once the most loving and joyful person you had ever met, now a lazy sloth who didn't even bother doing anything anymore. You remember vividly how she wiped away so many cookies just because they woke her up from her nap.

Then there was the Purple shard, once a noble knight of solitude, now a dark knight of silence. You remember all to well how had mercilessly crumbled several cookies in a single strike. How he's never uttered a word since he became corrupted.

These shards of glass are none other than your fallen friends, freed from but under different circumstances. They weren't causing havoc, they weren't attacking- heck, they weren't even angry at you after you lead them into a trap. What baffled you more was how the ancients were present but stood to the side. It took some time before the realization hit you.

"They want to talk."

You heard a voice say. It sounded like you, but much more mature. You felt your heart drop. They wish to talk? Couldn't they have thought about that years- no, CENTURIES ago?! But you're not about to argue with the light of patience when you clearly have better things to focus on.

The first thing you noticed about your fallen friends is their demeanor. They're not angry... they actually look guilty and nervous. Next was their souljams... which they didn't have for some reason. The ancients probably have it, which is good. They can't cause much damage. Shadow milk cookie stepped forward and you were ready for anything....

"Y/N cookie..."

Anything at all.

"We're sorry..."

Except that. Your eyes widened and you froze solid, the words unable to register in your head. They were apologizing?... But- no that can't be right... this is a trick... It's a trick and you won't fall for it again... You look at the ancients. They aren't intervening or protesting against this false apology.

...

They can't seriously believe this, right? They're not falling for this, RIGHT?! You step back a bit and shake your head slightly. This was a trick. Why do they want to redeem themselves NOW? Had they not realized the gravity of what they did before sooner? This had to be some kind of lie. And you weren't gonna fall for it. You made that very clear to them before walking.

It was only later on where pure vanilla cookie explained that they were attempting a redemption arc to fix the bond between you. The ancients really did believe them... Why did they believe them?! They had been nothing but pure evil as far as you can remember. Their evil deeds outweighed whatever happy memories you had with them... almost as though you didn't have happy memories.

The beasts tried again and again to at least get you to cast a glance at them but it was fruitless. You walked away from the library when Shadow milk cookie tried talking to you. You completely ignored Eternal sugar cookie trying to enter your room and talk to you. You turned your back on Burning spice cookie when he attempted reaching out for you. You refused to acknowledge Mystic flour cookies attempt of interaction with you. And the silence between You and Silent salt cookie had grown into a deadly kind of quiet, as if none of you had even been together.

They just didn't get it, did they? They betrayed your trust once, what if they do it again? You had to be BEYOND patient with yourself in order to recover and yet they've returned? No, they shouldn't have. They had no idea how many sleepless nights you endured to finally accept they're absence. How much you had to learn to adjust and be patient with yourself to be able to move on. And all that hard work, all that patience, it was gonna crumble because of them.

No, you can't let that happen. You can't just forgive them just like that. Not after everything they've done, to innocent cookies, everything they've done to you. If they really wanted your forgiveness, they'd have to be as patient with you as you were with them when they weren't corrupted. They have to earn your forgiveness, and that was going to take a long time.

You were patient with them, now they must be patient with you. How long they'd have to be patient was unknown, and how long they'd actually remain patient was just as mysterious.

[opalite-curiosities]

Tkatb theories-

A/n: I normally don't post my thoughts on things because I'm nervous but I couldn't help it. I really enjoyed the update and wanted to know if anyone was theorizing like I was 😅. Hope my slightly organized ranting is enjoyable.

Also slight spoilers for the update/rewrite

Crowe-

Marie antoinette

1.a- forms a scenario about the queen and the MC being friends while they write their essays

1.b- Light is absent from his eyes as he asks and listens to their answers

1.c- Emphasis on Tyrant

There is obviously more to this scenario than meets the eye. Automatically it seems like hes talking about his family, as Dyrel mentions he doesn’t seem to get along with his family. The only family that is mentioned (by Dyrel) is his mother. She is a highly successful business woman and it’s likely that Crowe lives with her on the other side of the city.

Given how he frames the scenario, it’s likely his mother was similar to the queen. In this case the role MC plays would actually be Crowe. Saying that the queen gave them gifts and invited them to parties. likely reflects what his childhood was like. Business parties with the higher class or lower class, along with his mother likely giving him anything. The second half of the scenario may take place in his later years. As a child he probably had an idolized image of his mum. Given her success and prowess, Crowe probably looked up to her in some way. However, that opens up the possibility for him seeing what she was or is really like.

This is where the second half of the scenario comes in where he asks the MC if they would believe the rumors or the queen. The answer matters a lot to him as it, without the MC’s knowledge, relates to his own personal experience. When picking the option of still trusting the queen, Crowe tears up. Despite quickly returning to his prior playful and light mood, it’s clear that the answer impacted him greatly. He also says that the MC is too trusting and is opening themselves up to potential danger. I feel like this is the option Crowe himself chose, to believe his mother. To trust in her and the version he knew as opposed to what he had heard. The danger he speaks of to the MC is probably the danger he found himself in.

Similar to how Geo’s family is involved in some way with the founders of the city, there's a possibility that Crowe’s mum was to and could be the reason for his deep hatred of the system. Her business may involve the city officials in some way and with the unrest within the city, it’s not a stretch to say the rumors about her were probably true. Crowe finding out about all of it probably made him begin to question his mother even if he so desperately wanted to believe her.

Eventually, they probably had a falling out. Whether Crowe started believing the rumors or saw what was happening for himself isn’t that important but it may change how severely his opinion changed. How old he was when this happened also no doubt played a role. The main thing is, he started seeing his mum in a different light, a more negative one. This is probably why he isn’t close with his family or at least his mother. It also could be a reason he and Geo are so close, as they both can relate to having family problems relating to the hierarchy.

At the end of day 2, when you choose to stay with the group, Crowe decides to leave after staying at the MC’s apartment to get out of the rain. As he’s leaving we get a photo of him almost glaring at his phone. He also says that she is back, possibly meaning his mother.

[3hks]

How to Create a MEMORABLE Character

A while back, I released a post about how to write "that" character, which basically highlights a few key aspects found in some of the most popular characters to date. However, a popular character and a memorable one is actually quite different, and in this post, I'll briefly explain how to create a character that people will remember.

For starters, a memorable character doesn't actually have to be well-liked. Yes, popular characters tend to be memorable, but it's not always the same other way around. I'll simply explain how to form a character that really sticks with your audience, regardless of their actual opinion about them! And even better, these following ideas work on any type of character! So, if you're interested, let's dive right in!

~ FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTER ~

I sometimes talk about the importance of a character's reputation because it shows how others view them and the truths and inaccuracies of their character!

But your character's image isn't bound to your cast's eyes--it actually matters a lot to your readers.

When you first introduce your character, do not immediately reveal everything about them. Instead, focus on establishing one or two core traits of your character instead. This will allow your readers to form their own opinions of your character first, and although they might be inaccurate, when the readers realize their misjudgment, the character will get stuck in their head!

For example, there's Tsukishima Kei from Haikyuu!!. Initially, the viewers may think about him negatively because of his introduction. He first appears as a blunt, mocking, and disrespectful person, but as the story continues and the audience slowly warms up to him, we start to see his real character, resulting in Tsukishima becoming one of the most beloved characters in Haikyuu!!.

Why does this matter? The thing is, when we meet new people, we all make assumptions about their personality, goodwill, and whatnot. As we get to know them further, we realize that some of our initial judgements may have been wrong; it's simply an unavoidable part of life. By incorporating that aspect into your writing, you're forcing your readers to think deeper about your characters!

~ GIVE THEM THEIR TIME ~

This will seem obvious but it's precisely because of how obvious it is that it'll often slip people's minds. Give your character the time they deserve. You can do this by exploring their backstory, defining their motivations, giving them some important action, or simply establishing some kind of critical or eye-catching moment regarding them!

If you can't afford to give them a huge role in your story, then give your readers an event focusing on your character that will come to their mind when they think of said character! Like a defining moment!

It can be dramatic, sad, short, anything works! As a matter of fact, you've probably done this unconsciously before, too!

~ MAKE THEM DIMENSIONAL ~

If you can't tell already, it's incredibly important to be aware of your characters' distinctive traits and how they shape your character. However, there are times that a character will and should break their character.

A happy person can't be happy all the time. A carefree person can't be carefree all the time. Even a cold person will have some shifts in character.

This can help will character development, especially if you're not planning to give them a lot of development, but also really humanizes your character! Everyone will eventually get bored of the same personality; people may change in different situations!

See? In the end, this is really just a simple guide--everything is perfectly achievable no matter what character you're writing! These are some good points to keep in mind if you're looking for a character that resonates with the audience!

Happy writing~

3hks ^^

[yuesya]

“You need to eat me.”

The white-haired girl in front of him blinks, “That’s an odd way to start a conversation.”

Eligius briefly chokes at that uncaring, blasé response. “… I’m being serious here.”

“So you are.” Even so, the girl’s voice remains unperturbed, and her expression does not change. “Would your strange request have anything to do with the visitors who passed through recently?”

… That is a remarkably understated way of referring to the most recent Sarkaz travelers who’d visited Arkos. Travelers who’d come specifically in search of Miss Salome, too. From the heavy robes and tight wrappings that consisted their attire, from the necrosis-type Arts that they commanded, it had been obvious that they were Nachzehrers.

Nachzehrers –beings who were the very personification of war; gruesome, relentless warriors known to be devoted to the battlefield, who reveled in the slaughter.

But the standing policy of Arkos is that all visitors are welcome. Save for those who threaten the stability and wellbeing of the settlement itself, or commit crimes within its borders.

And so the Nachzehrers had been allowed to enter Arkos, just as so many others had been allowed before them, and no doubt far more would be allowed after in the future.

Eligius had regarded their Nachzehrer visitors with wariness and curiosity in the beginning. Which swiftly morphed into shock and outright alarm, when they had accosted Salome on one of her routine patrols around the mountains.

“You’re Herleva’s daughter, aren’t you?”

“My name is Naftali, a soldier who once served under Commander Herleva of the Withering Court. I apologize that it took so long for us to find you –I’ve come to bring you home.”

…

Salome had refused to leave with them.

… Much to the relief of many, Eligius included. Though their numbers were steadily increasing, it was undeniable that Salome was the heart of Arkos, and if she left, then in all likelihood they would end up scattering across the land once more. Misfits and travelers and wanderers with no place to belong, and no place to rest.

(No place to call home.)

…

Eligius had known that Salome was Sarkaz for a long time now, but he hadn’t realized that she was Nachzehrer Sarkaz. She certainly didn’t look the part; Nachzehrers were said to possess bodies that easily withered and rotted away like the necrosis Arts that they commanded, and Salome did not display any of those traits. She had a pair of distinctive Sarkaz horns sitting on her head, and that was it. Were it not for those curved horns, she probably could’ve passed as a Pythian girl with her pointed ears and long, snake-like tail covered in glittering white scales–

Or so Eligius had thought.

Because he’d seen it, the other day. Salome usually wore clothing that covered most of her skin, including a veil across her face, but he’d glimpsed her taking off her gloves –only to reveal blackened fingertips, eerily reminiscent of necrotic rot, which caused Eligius’ blood to run cold.

Was it because of her Nachzehrer blood? Was she –was she somehow rotting away? Was her Pythian blood not enough to offset the horrifying effects of her inheritance?

Wracking his brains and ruminating over what he’d overheard from the Nachzehrer visitors, there was only one potential solution that Eligius could think of. Through devouring the dead, Nachzehrers were able to add the strength of the fallen to their own, so–

“You need to eat me,” he repeats. Because if she doesn’t, if her situation worsens, then…

Salome arches an eyebrow. “Do you want to be eaten?”

…

… No. Of course not.

The day that Eligius had left Kazimierz, a broken husk of a knight who had failed his family and could no longer even properly swing a blade anymore… Eligius had thought that there no longer remained anything left for him to protect. Not that he even possessed the strength to protect anything, not as a disgraced, crippled knight driven out of his homeland.

Fate had led him to Arkos, eventually. He’d aimlessly followed a merchant caravan as a cheap hired hand, and somehow ended up staying in Arkos when a Sarkaz girl killed the head of the caravan. The man had a sexual proclivity aimed towards children, and had acted on those urges in Arkos –Salome had sliced the despicable merchant into bloody pieces for it.

Eligius had thought of his days as a knight in Kazimierz, of all the harsh training he’d undergone… only to be helpless in face of injustice and wrongdoing all the same. A knight must be honorable above all else. But what worth was there in honor when it was something that could be traded and bought by the monolithic corporations that ruled Kazimierz?

Arkos… is not perfect. The buildings are shabby and run-down, and the rooftops have a tendency to leak when it rains. There is no particular schedule for when merchants are passing through, and resources are always running tight. Sometimes, brash mercenaries end up causing trouble, even with the threat of Salome hanging over their heads.

But at some point, Arkos had grown to be precious to Eligius. The tenacity of the people that lived here, with all their storied pasts, and the young leader who never allowed the opinions of others to prevent her from doing what must be done.

Eligius is no longer a knight. With a body had been ravaged by vicious poisoning and missing his dominant sword arm, his days as a knight of glorious Kazimierz are long over.

But even so, there must be a way that he could still protect what was important to him. Even if he wasn’t the one holding the sword himself.

Eligius squares his shoulders and looks towards Salome determinedly. He knows that he is not the only one who is willing to become her strength through being devoured by her, but it’s better that a useless cripple like him becomes the first to die, so that the others–

“You don’t look like you want to die,” Salome says. Then, turns around to pick up a… shovel? From behind her? “Here.”

Eligius falters, automatically accepting the dull shovel with his sole remaining hand, “What is this?”

“A shovel,” Salome responds. Fair, but that’s not what Eligius meant– “Seeing as you have enough time on your hands to be thinking about useless things, you can go work with the others on developing the terraced gardens first.”

Eligius gives a small start, “But you–”

“I’m not interested in cannibalism. Let me know once you’ve figured out how to grow potatoes properly here.”

With that said, Salome turns and walks away.

Leaving Eligius standing in the street by himself, holding a shovel.

…

… It’s nothing but a rusty shovel, given to him haphazardly by a girl who doesn’t even bother to toss a second glance back towards him as she departs. But for some reason, the shovel rests in his hand with a greater weight than the sword he’d once held during his knighthood ceremony, and there is a strange emotion welling up within his chest–

Eligius tightens his grip on the shovel, exhaling slowly.

[overnightheartbeats]

Perhaps, Laurel spent a little too long watching his lips, caught up in the way he licked them. Oh, she was a goner. “Woah, you are really smart with your class schedule. How do you pick the stories you read?" His words saddened her, thinking of the prospect of someone being used to not having a home. But, the brief optimism was a good note. Surely, he'd find a home eventually, and while they were in school, she'd try to help find that space. "For my sake, I hope you're right about the lack of embarrassing." Her mind was already turning with ideas for Juju and Aaron's upcoming visit. "Hm, I'll need to bribe them too, to behave."

Despite the variety of topics they had covered already, this was what made her cheeks warm up with a pink flush. How he had only known her for this short amount of time, and yet he saw her. The way he spoke, he saw something in her that she hadn't really bothered seeing in herself lately. "That's very kind of you, I really appreciate it. I'll keep my glow on, just for you." The idea of cooking had never really enticed her too much, but now the prospect of jumping into this new adventure with him excited her. "Kitchen heaven, oh that sounds like our place. I'll plan that one, and I'll send you the details when we can take over the kitchen. Maybe, we each bring a recipe we want to try."

"As long as you don't want to be far from me, then I'll be buying all the portable fans. Well, hey I'm not complaining on the idea because it brought you here." The idea didn't seem too logical to her, but how could she judge it when it meant he arrived here with her? That had to be some version of destiny, if she even believed in all that. Laurel was hanging on to each word, a string pulling him toward her. Was he always so charming and romantic? "I..." her words trailed off, completely in a daze. "I'm inclined to believe that, I'm glad the string brought us here. Having us meet halfway, hm guess I'd just be curious why Texas, of all places." The thought of a string pulling him to a place that he didn't like was so interesting, completely grateful that he did listen to that string tugging him here. "The more, the merrier and I'd love to meet them. Maybe, get some of those stories about you." Laurel's smile remained, her curiosity on Colorado growing. He had the ability to make anything sound interesting, even a state she had never given second thought to. "There's more to Brazil than Carnival though, promise I'm not a party animal. I'm intrigued by Colorado now, and Panama, really? That sounds like a fun spot too, probably some really good beaches." Oh, she was completely pleased with herself when he agreed and gave her a look. Lucky for her, they both were not the sharing type. "Good to know, because I really have no intention of sharing you with anyone here. Just a heads up."

She was shaking her head, silently telling him it was not necessary at all. Laurel understood house rules, and really didn't mind just hanging out here, even on the floor. It beat being in her dorm listening to Jenny complain about being ditched earlier. But, Laurel looked at him and knew that there was no chance of saying no. "Okay, but only because you insist." She took the items Eli handed her, and nodded reluctantly. "I believe you," she said with soft laugh. "This is more than enough, don't worry. I'll be right back." With that, she stepped away to change. Changing into the bottoms was quick and easy, the hoodie - well, that had more thought going into it. He did say no outside clothes, her blouse definitely counted under that umbrella, but was it too bold to wear his hoodie with no shirt underneath? Maybe so, but she would follow instructions, so she pulled her blouse and quickly changed into the soft hoodie. Once her outside clothes were folded, she stepped back out and grinned widely. "Ta-da, fits pretty well! Confirming I'm free of outside clothes," she teased as she stuffed her clothes in her backpack for now.

"A lot of mishaps," he laughed, licking his lips after that small make out. The green apple aftertaste leaving traces on his lips. He would have thought she'd be a cherry type of girl but no even with chapstick she managed to surprise him. "M&M I call her that, she loves to be read stories. That's what we do every Friday night. It's why I only have that one class on Friday to make sure I've done my homework when I call her." He shrugged thinking by now he should be used to not having a home. He never had one before the Phillips scooped him up. "It's okay. I'm used to it. Maybe one day I'll find home." Eli's smile widened at the thought of getting stories of her. "I'll take it. Embarrassing? I highly doubt that. Any and all stories about you I'll be glad to hear."

"You're more than dust. You have a glow just some people can't see it. It's on them not on you." He gently squeezed her hand and smiled. "And that's enough. Always will be." Just because her mom didn't see her like that didn't mean she wasn't special. "Good. After all you can't dim your light for others. Not fair to you." Cooking and having a knack to learn seemed like a good combo. "Sounds like we're a match in kitchen heaven."

He couldn't help but smiled amused. "Carry a portable fan with you at all times. That way I don't have to be too far away from you. I know. It wasn't the brightest idea to move here but I also think it lead me to you. I am not sure if I believe in that but also not really a coincidence we met before we actually met. It was like," he thought about it. "A string pulling me toward you. Have you ever felt that?" Nodding his head he didn't think she'd take him up on it so quick but was glad she had. "Winter break coming up. Let's do it. I'm sure my sisters will love to join if you're okay with that. I need to see if they can come or one will be missing. Not sure Isa and hia schedule." He had to think hard on if he did go anywhere he had wanted to. "No. We stayed local or if we felt really adventurous we went to Colorado. But bucket list items for sure. Brazil? That is cool. That reminds me of one I forgot. Panama." He bumped into her and gave her a look. "Neither am I very good at sharing."

Eli turned around and sighed trying to find his sweater he hadn't worn in the week. Once he did he took it out and found bottoms that would fit her. Last time Inez bought him pants they were a little too tight so now they seemed like they'd fit Laurel. "Here, get comfortable. You can't stand or sit on the floor. You're my guest. I insist." His black striped hoodie was the one he gave her and handed her the bottoms. "These should fit you. I have an extra toothbrush in the drawer in the bathroom so feel free to use that. I promise it's brand new." Now he was thankful the Phillips siblings gave him so much in their care package. "If you need anything else let me know."

[nam-the-nacho]

Mit2uba's Trauma: An Analogy

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

Tw: I will be discussing the abuse Mitsuba has suffered from his environment, nothing that isn't in the manga, but I want to give a heads up. Additionally, I'm fortunate to have not gone though any severe traumatic experience myself, and am instead using my general knowledge, meaning if anything is incorrect here, please point it out!

(Also manga spoilers obviously)

I'm not pretending this hasn't ever been discussed, however I have yet to see an analogy of the consequences of Mitsuba's creation and (practically nonexistent) upbringing.

I'm going to divide this post into sections, but they won't really be organized, maybe chapters is a better definition. This thing is l o n g, so without further ado:

1: Mitsuba being paralleled to a puppet:

This is done quite often, although not in the same ways. Besides the psychological aspects of being Tsukasa's "puppet", as in being forced to do as he says and overall being under his control, but there are physical correlations too.

Tsukasa referring to Mitsuba as a "Thing"

Mitsuba lets Tsukasa hold him. This is much more then a surface-level fact considering Mitsuba usually rejects contact/uses it as an excuse to blame others. This is easily explained by "Mitsuba is simply scared of Tsukasa, he can't tell him no", except Mitsuba doesn't look scared when being held, he just looks, expressionless.

More then that, he completely trusts Tsukasa with his body weight, leaning into his touch and allowing himself to be comforted by it. This obviously occasionally backfires horribly

While Mitsuba being punched is framed in a humorous manner, the implications and weight of it are very heavy. It's all fun and games until you remember this is how Mitsuba is being raised, and it's all he's ever known. If Mitsuba doesn't want to do what Tsukasa tells him too, he gets punched. If he talks back, he gets kicked out of the broadcasting room (we'll get back to this later). If he asks to be Tsukasa's friend, he gets fireworks shoved down his mouth.

And the results of this... well:

This one in particular is interesting to me:

"It's just Mitsuba being surprised because Kou suddenly raised his voice". But that's not what's being illustrated. Upon hearing "brace yourself" even from someone like Kou, who wasn't planning on actively trying to hurt Mitsuba, he literally stiffens, pales, and begins to tremble and sweat, dropping the piece of chalk he was holding (those things break way to easily, yk he was serious). It's not shock or surprise being drawn, it's just genuine fear.

This could very well be me overthinking, but Mitsuba falls in what is almost a doll-like manner, arms and legs completely stiff.

2: Social rejection and trivial treatment:

The Mitsuba chapter (ch. 40) was worse then I remembered.

Mitsuba runs away from the broadcasting room in search of a better, safer place to stay. Only to understand he has none.

What's worse is that these are the characters we see being far kinder to the rest of the cast. We see Yako, Hanako and weirdo super-natural teacher together in his living quarters, watching tv together, but when Mitsuba approaches them...

(Tsuchigomori eventually does stay with him, but his opinion of him doesn't really change.)

"This guy's a pain, I'm out of here"

Tsuchigomori doesn't know Mitsuba, the only time we see them meet was when Tsuchigomori refers to him as emergency rations (above), and when he answered Mitsuba who asked him a question (answer starting with "You seriously don't know?" (YES SIR HOW WOULD HE KNOW HE'S LIKE ONE MONTH OLD)).

He probably heard he's a prankster from Hanako, which is why he wants nothing to do with him.

The point is despite Mitsuba needing to run from the closest thing he considers a "home", not a single supernatural actually understands his situation. Hanako borderline hates him, Nene barley understands he's a different Mitsuba, and Kou tends to accidently frame it as Mitsuba's CHOICE to stay with Tsukasa in the broadcasting room.

This is sadly something that can happen in reality, children trying to escape their less-desirable homes can often find themselves, sickeningly, returning after not finding somewhere or someone to take them seriously.

The most deranged part of this is that as a result of nobody properly digesting that he needs help, Mitsuba himself frequently convinces himself that everything is normal.

The implication that every time Mitsuba fights with Tsukasa he needs to just fend for himself until enough time has passed for Tsukasa to forget is sad. He's an outcast between the wonders for replacing the old No.3, despite his only other choice being death, which they don't know.

Sakura is probably the closest thing Mitsuba has to family, being in a similar situation to him, but it's incorrect to say she truly deeply cares about him. She's fond of Mitsuba, but never goes out of her way to help him when Tsukasa hurts him, and seems to have put her personal safety and goals as a higher priority then him (this isn't Sakura slander, I love my queen).

Natsuhiko treats him like a pet more then a human, and sometimes hits on him, which is just gross. Despite this Mitsuba genuinely appreciates him and sees him as an older brother. It's cruel to see this one-sided ordeal.

We don't actually know Mitsuba's true opinion of Tsukasa. In an almost realistic manner, his opinion is constantly contradictory. Mitsuba is scared of Tsukasa, but at the same time he only feels 'safe' when he's around.

Also, contrary to Sousuke, Mitsuba is more scared of Tsukasa then thunder, which could either mean that Sousuke's phobia of thunder was memory-correlated, or that Mitsuba is SO scared of Tsukasa that thunder is nothing in comparison.

Mitsuba freezing after hearing Tsukasa's voice

vs:

We know Mitsuba is aware that Tsukasa is not treating him okay, but by the time we learn this (pp arc), Mitsuba has half convinced himself that Tsukasa is doing everything he's doing to help him, and that "nobody else can help him anyways". Genuinely Mitsuba is one of the most subtle-yet-obvious victims portrayed in media I've even seen.

3: Ok-yeah-that's-not-okay moments

Do I really need to add anything.

I will anyways. Mitsuba is a dramatic by nature, unrelated to any of the emotional damage he's suffered. The fact that Tsukasa can make him stop crying just by demanding it really shows how bad he messed up Mitsuba. The ability to stop crying on command out of fear..... somebody save him.

Stay away!

Can't add to many pictures because of the tumbler limitations, but in every one of these scenes Mitsuba totally freezes, only regaining control and suddenly snapping once someone (aka Kou) does anything intimidating to him.

Going in-depth about the similarities between Kou and Tsukasa is an entirely different ordeal, but in short summery:

There's a carefully built connection between Tsukasa and Kou, that deserves a post of it's own.

4: Symptoms of trauma:

Trust issues are heavily associated with a problematic childhood, so it's not very surprising that Mitsuba struggles to trust anyone besides Tsukasa, even if he doesn't want to.

Very commonly appearing alongside trauma, self destructive behaviors are a tragically common coping habit. I don't think I need to add any pictures for this one, as practically every other sentence Mitsuba says have some 'Just let me pass away' coding to it.

Lack of memories is a symptom that appears in very severe cases, and while it isn't completely accurate to Mitsuba it's an interesting addition considering Mitsuba has no memories.

5: Character design:

Mitsuba has lots of chains and locks in his wonder form, a lock on his neck (which has multiple interpretations), one preventing his heart from beating, which could be a clever metaphor for Mitsuba further constricting his humanity by "choosing" to become a wonder, but most interesting:

What looks to be the remains of a leg shackle.

Mitsuba in a box labeled as fragile.

6: This definitely isn't symbolism for an eating disorder:

"I'm always hungry, no matter how much I eat" -M

"You starved yourself from all this moping around, just because you didn't want to eat something different?" -K

Can we talk about how the fandom collectively just skipped over the huge reveal that Mitsuba STARVES HIMSELF. Because I feel like that really wasn't talked about. As if this guy doesn't have enough going on, he now has to deal with constant starvation, dehumanization at new never-seen-before-pace, and the loss of his will to exist in the first place.

He is both metaphorically and physically falling apart, constantly in physical pain. When he isn't in physical pain it's because he's experiencing gut-wrenching psychological torment as he can't stop eating live beings. I don't blame this guy.

The only person who knew of this was Tsukasa, until he "told" Kou. Told is in quotation marks because it was never really Mitsuba trusting Kou enough to open up about the hell he's enduring, as mentioned before Mitsuba doesn't exactly know how to trust. The fact was forced out of him due to a dire situation, but Kou could not have reacted in a worse way:

Pro tip: If your reaction to learning that your best buddy is suffering from a complicated relationship with food, is shoving said food into their mouth violently, you might need therapy just as much as they do.

Kou is still unaware that Mitsuba's diet contains living things too, but if we're being honest that doesn't really put Kou in the right here. Like, man, I know you're freaking out because your friend just asked you to end him, but please take out your anger on something that isn't him.

And don't act surprised when this is his reaction:

This is arguably the a result of post traumatic stress disorder. Mitsuba didn't just escape, he hid in the nearest corner, making himself as small as possible, hid his head and trembled. The reason I'm calling this out as PTSD is because the only other time he panicked like this was right after Tsukasa shoved the bird heart down his throat.

So for both situations it's:

Tsukasa force feeds Mitsuba -> Mitsuba loses control (starts attacking everything)

Kou force feeds Mitsuba -> Mitsuba bites Kou

And the results are the same. He reacted the same way because mentally it was the same situation to him, It doesn't matter what the intentions were, Kou triggered an event(s (considering he's eaten multiple supernatural and is absolutely repulsed by it)) that Mitsuba had no intention of revisiting.

Summery:

Mitsuba's trauma is often overshadowed by more obvious displays of mental scarring, like with the Yugi twins and Kou, and is often represented with irony or humor, including by the creators themselves.

Even without everything he's gone though, Mitsuba was always a hopeless character. He just existed one day. He doesn't have anything, anyone. He's never been told he's loved, he's never felt sunlight, he never got to play, he's never had anyone tuck him into bed, or read him a story. He was robbed of his childhood, and any connections besides the few who remember him for someone that he isn't.

This entire post wasn't even scratching the tip of the iceberg in terms of how much grave emotional turmoil Mitsuba has faced. And will face. Yeah I don't know how well his trust issues will cope with Natsuhiko leaving him to die. If he lives.

The idea of this long rant was to point out that Mitsuba's trauma and mental struggles are just as, if not more, relevant then his physical ones. And they do affect him, and they do have consequences. And they will most certainly come back 20x worse later on in the plot. I would say to prepare mentally, but I know tbhk fans can handle just about anything.

Thank you for reading!

ヾ(≧▽≦*)

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

[axelsapothecary]

I had this idea floating in my head that never made it to a comic page due to laziness a change in priorities.

It's called Take Two: Curly Knew

The general idea is sort of like the Daisuke isekai by @mellowsharkpolice, but instead of Daisuke being given a "Take Two" aboard the ship, Curly gets a "flash-forward" of what would happen if Jimmy leaves his sight right after he walks away. It's shown that Jimmy had locked the door, but in this he had forgotten to.

Curly runs in, stops him from disengaging the autopilot, and the day is saved, right? Well no, Jimmy is still alive, and Curly can't exactly kill him. He's too much of a coward for that.

So instead, Curly ties Jimmy to a chair and is kept in the maintenance room, with Daisuke tasked with monitoring him to make sure he doesn't escape and still eats.

Ok so now the day is saved, right? Jimmy is detained and the Tulpar is uncrashed. You can probably guess the answer.

After some prompting from Curly (Not realizing why she might not want to tell everyone on the ship) Anya tells Swansea what Jimmy did. Curly says that this is not to reach Daisuke. Curly is too busy, Anya was traumatized by him, and going by Swansea's reaction, Curly doesn't trust him not to hurt Jimmy. Daisuke is the only person left with the time, patience, and mental fortitude to be able to properly care for Jimmy in Curly's eyes.

Problem is, Daisuke's lack of information means that Jimmy can manipulate him scarily easily. Jimmy slowly builds Daisuke's trust, bit by bit, until he starts hinting that the others on the ship are hiding something from him. Jimmy was oh so alone compared to the others. He has this job thanks to Curly (he gags at the thought of gratitude towards that traitor), but he had no other friends on the Tulpar. In fact, Daisuke is the first friend Jimmy's made since boarding!

Daisuke should understand that if someone spread lies about him, it would be much easier for them to be believed, since everyone else barely knew him. In fact, not even Curly has seen Jimmy this vulnerable. Daisuke is special, because he's immune to liars and deceit.

Meanwhile, Anya keeps trying to convince Curly that Daisuke needs to know what Jimmy did; at least tell him that he tried to crash the ship! But Curly refuses. Daisuke doesn't need to know. Especially when he's appointed to be Jimmy's caretaker. Anya says she'll be his caretaker. Curly refuses even harder. Even Swansea agrees that he needs to know at least the footnotes version. Why won't you admit it Curly? You're just a coward He doesn't want Daisuke to know how bad he almost let it get it almost got.

Eventually, Anya overhears Jimmy telling Daisuke to get the axe from Swansea to cut him loose, and she interrupts them, telling Daisuke to go to Swansea. Daisuke refuses. He asks Anya to tell him the truth; why was Jimmy tied up? Was there some misunderstanding?

Anya tries to tell him that he doesn't need to know, but he shoots her down. What has everyone been hiding from him? Why will nobody say anything? What the hell happened that lead Jimmy to being tied up? Anya asks to speak in private, but Daisuke says if it's the truth, she can say it in front of Jimmy.

Curly and Swansea show up, hearing the shouting. Daisuke tells them he's not a kid and he should know what's being kept from him. That whatever Jimmy did, he shouldn't be tied up and that they could talk this out. Jimmy taunts Curly, agreeing that talking it out would've worked.

Anya finally breaks and tells him what he tried to do to everyone else, and what Jimmy did to her when Jimmy tries to tell Daisuke that he should be smart enough to not believe her lies (though not directed at Daisuke). Jimmy doesn't try to hide it, seeing it as his right to her body. Daisuke is shocked, confused, and angry.

He asks why nobody told him this. Anya says Curly told them not to.

He asks how long Swansea knew. Swansea says a month, maybe longer. The days are hard to keep track of.

He asks Curly how long he was planning on keeping this from him. Curly doesn't answer.

He asks whether he was planning to tell him at all. Curly doesn't answer.

He asks if Curly how long he knew Jimmy was like this. Jimmy answers.

"He gave me this job because my criminal record was so bad that I couldn't get a job anywhere else. Said he'd help me get through it when I found out Anya was pregnant"

Daisuke asks if this is true. Curly doesn't answer.

He asks again. And again. And again and again and again and again and again and- Curly. Wouldn't. Answer.

Daisuke storms off. Curly doesn't follow him.

Daisuke isn't talking to anyone while he processes what he's learned. He isn't mad at Anya or Swansea anymore, his emotions were out of control and he was taking it out on them.

He is however mad at Curly. He was a coward. Unfit to lead. If he could, he'd make sure that he never got that promotion.

Anya and Swansea were surprised that Daisuke could be lead up to this point. But Anya also knew this was a possibility. If only Curly had listened.

This AU, as you can tell, was a lot more Daisuke and Curly-centric. I had noticed how easy it was for Jimmy to manipulate Daisuke by saying how proud everyone would be of him if he disobeyed Swansea and saved Anya, and went "What if that but in a 'fix-it' AU". This AU was meant to center around how the red flags were always there but Curly closed his eyes to them because he prioritized being Jimmy's friend and savior over being the Tulpar's captain and leader.

And how Daisuke was both young enough to not understand why you'd overlook something so egregious, while being old enough to believe that Curly should've known better. Throughout this story, Daisuke would blame Curly for Jimmy's actions, hating him almost as much as Jimmy.

I'm just gonna post this and pretend it doesn't exist because while I think a lot of what Jimmy managed to do to Daisuke was very in-character (it happens over the span of weeks, and he's slow enough and methodical enough to make it seem like he's opening up to Daisuke.), I feel like Daisuke and Anya's reactions might have been OOC?

Like I don't think he'd blow up per se, but he'd definitely be mad at Curly for hiding something so important as Jimmy being a (sex pest? rapist?) with a sordid criminal record. Especially while expecting him to care for Jimmy.

Anya doesn't outright say what he did to her btw, but she implies it in a way that Daisuke is able to pick up on it. Jimmy keeps forcing her to be more explicit in her wording until she practically had to spell it out for him, too. Jimmy was expecting her to give up on explaining what happened, seeing her as too meek to go into any detail. But at that point, he knew he'd already lost Daisuke and his chances at escape, so he decided to drag Curly down with him.

Imo the reason Swansea didn't tell Daisuke in canon, but will tell him here, was because Anya and Swansea had no reason to believe that Jimmy would've put Daisuke in any sort of dangerous situation, especially since the vent was the only active threat on the Tulpar.

Meanwhile, this situation leaves Daisuke vulnerable to Jimmy convincing him of anything, since they're usually alone. Idk why Curly wouldn't send Swansea to supervise, or wouldn't at least let him go if he wanted to, but this AU was pretty half baked when I came up with it.

Maybe he naively believed that Jimmy wouldn't try to manipulate Daisuke to escape. Maybe he believed that Daisuke wouldn't be able to get his hands on something strong enough to cut the rope. Maybe he was terrified of losing the last bit of respect his crew had for him. Maybe he thought this would all blow over and things would return to normal. Maybe it's Maybelline, fuck if I know.

Also, some other things that I forgot to mention; - Curly hides the override key in the medical bay, but Swansea then hides it somewhere else; not even Daisuke or Anya knows where he hid it, though Daisuke thinks it's somewhere in the maintenance room. - After Daisuke calmed down, the first thing he does is apologize to Anya. He felt immense guilt at blowing up on her like that, especially since she's had no control over what's been happening. Afterwards, he apologizes to Swansea, who didn't take it personally in the first place. He'd be pissed too if something like that was kept from him that long. - Swansea is also mad at Curly, though he wasn't mad to the same extent as Daisuke until he found out that Jimmy had a criminal record that severe; afterwards he was pissed that he brought a "goddamn time bomb" onto a cargo ship expecting everything to be "sunshine and rainbows". - Anya feels similarly, but moreso betrayed that Curly would sacrifice the crew's safety to help his friend.

[joyrose-fandomer]

"END OF THE SESSION! END OF THE SESSION!"

Grian's voice echoed across the server, reverberating into everyone's mind, as it usually does at the start and end of each session.

Except this time it was loud and full of panic.

As a natural result, BigB, from the other side of the server, brought his concern in chat.

But on the cherry blossom hill, everyone was frozen in place, as still as their snails. Eyes empty, trying to put together the hell of a day they just went through.

And finally after a long silence... FLOP!

The echo of something soft hitting the floor.

"Skizz, are you ok down there?" Mumbo enquiered

"I'M. SO. DONE!!!" Yelled back

This seemingly brought the group back to reality. And they all started laughing and dropping to the floor one after the other.

"I should answer BigB, the poor fella's probably worried" Pearl stated from where she was lying on the ground, tapping on her come

And once more the group fell into silence, a more comfortable one this time

As they stared at the darkening sky, eSCARgo blinked back into existence,

Right next to Scar

The vex hybrid jumped 3 feet in the air with a Cartoonish scream, causing a chain reaction

and soon everyone but Grian was screaming

"AAAAAaaaaaaAAAAHHHHhhhhHHH"

"Why are we screaming?!"

"I don't know!"

"The snail j-just APPERED out of nowhere!"

"Scar, it's just potion effect running out..." Grian deadpanned

"Scar, you scared the life out of me, you did" Mumbo mumbled

Jimmy jumped to his feet

"Let's kick the stupid snail!"

"Jimmy no, leave the poor snail alone!" Pearl cried

"Yes! Let's go!"

"Lizzie!?"

"This feels like animal cruelty" Mumbo comented

"I can't believe you would hurt a poor animal like that, Timmy" Grian teased

"Here, take that you stupid snail" Jimmy faked hitting the unmoving gastropod

"Nooo! poor baby!" Pearl cried

"OooOOO the vengeance is sweet, this is what you get for killing me you- youuuu- Snail!"

"Very inspired scar" The moustached man commented

"Thank you Mumbo, I try"

"Snails are gastropods" Grian couldn't help but correct

"gastratoad?"

"gastropods..."

"That's what I said, my feathered friend"

"Scar-"

They kept chatting and joking with each other for a while until it got so dark that they couldn't see each other.

Thankfully when the sessions ended, the game was turned to Pacifique, no mob, no PvP, no hunger, no damage so no death.

They were safe despite the inky darkness.

Still, they were tired, and eventually, the little group went their own ways.

Mumbo went back to check on Skizz, Grian on his toes.

Pearl made her way back to her team

Which left the bamboozlers by themselves, all of them too tired to move

Now that nothing was distracting them Scar was fidgeting with the Tnt minecart, getting visibly more frustrated by the second

"Scar"

The vex hybrid turns to his left

"How 'bout we put that aside for now?"

Jimmy gently picked up the block out of Scar's hands, Scar didn't fight back

It wasn't like they could place any blocks right now, decorative blocks like beds, paintings, or flower pots being the only ones aloud

So holding onto weapons right now wasn't doing anything other than stressing themselves, Jimmy and Scar knew this better than anyone

Lizzie seemed to pick up on the mounting anxiety too

"Alright Scar, you can get my bed, go to sleep"

"Nono! Lizzie, it's fine I don't need to-"

"I am very tired mister, so go to sleep before I move from here"

"But I don't want to moooveeee~"

"Scar, buddy, just get the bed before she changes her mind"

"Jeese, ok mom! I'm going"

"This is not limited life! And I'm not Cleo, you are not my favorite!"

"Gasp! Does it mean I AM your favorite" Jimmy squeaked

"haha you dream"

Jimmy and Lizzie kept laughing, to the faraway sound of Scar settling into Lizzie's bed

She was the only one in the team to have a bed, refusing to sleep on the ground like the other two

Usually, they didn't mind it but on days like this, a comfy bed was always appreciated

In the distance, Joel and Gem were arguing about something

"What in the world are those two doing?"

"Who?"

"Joel and Gem, She's holding his snail for some reason- and now she's running away with it"

"Oh, I can see them! why is she running with Joel's snail- ohn she's running after him now"

"Is that a sword? isn't damage off?"

"I married an idiot."

Jimmy broke down laughing

"haha, beautiful man he is!"

"Hands off he's MY idiot"

"can't we share?"

"you wish"

The canary hybrid jumped to his feet

"Kinda wants to see what they're up to now, wanna join?"

"Nah, I'll sleep here"

"suit yourself"

As Jimmy made his way down the hill he made a mental note to get some wool to make a bed for Lizzie, she didn't want to admit it but she would have liked sleeping in a bed more than the floor, anyone would

"Gem, just put down the bloody snail!"

Ah, he seemed to have arrived

"Hey guys, we've been watching you two skipping 'round for a while now, what's going on?"

Jimmy casually pointed to where Lizzie's silhouette was still lying on the grass

"Jimmy! help me this woman is crazy" Joel shrieked, using the avian as a human shield against a girl even smaller than him

"Don't listen to him, Jimmy! He keeps hitting his poor snail so I'm protecting it, look at this little face how could you want to hurt them!"

Gem hugged the snail as if it was a very strange cat

"Hurting a snail? crazy, couldn't be me" Jimmy lied

"Right!?" Gem smiled "Anyway what are you doing here?"

"Just curious, by the way, can we borrow some wool? I wanted to make a bed for Lizzie"

"Well if it's for Lizzie" Joel immediately made his way the moment his wife was mentioned

"Would you spare some wool for a fellow bad boy too?~"

"Not after yah blew up my bloody car, JIMMY!"

"Don't mind him, but if you mess with our base again I WILL kill you, understood?"

"loud a clear!" Jimmy saluted before getting a hand full of wool thrown in his face

"Now scram boy, before I change my mind"

"Yup, got it! Bye, babe!"

He heard Gem sight on his way back but the mission was a success, he made a bed on his way there dyeing it magenta with the closest flowers on hand

5 wool blocks are enough for only one bed, turns out Joel's did have some wool for a fellow bad boy but not enough to not be petty

"Hey Lizzie" the canary hybrid whispered

"mhhh wha' ?"

"Joel gave me some wool, let get you to bed"

"Don't wanna move~"

With a chuckle, Jimmy picked her up and made his way up the hill

Once at the base, he placed the bed a few blocks away from where Scar was throwing his sheets around in his sleep

" 'immy?"

"Yeah, Liz?"

"sleep?"

The avian pulled the cover over the half-sleeping girl and moved on to tucking the human hurricane

"Yeah, I'll go to sleep soon"

this seemed enough for her and she was out like a light, Once all his Bamboozlers were tucked in all comfy Jimmy made his way back down

He wasn't tired

That was a lie, he was exhausted

But he simply couldn't sleep, it was always like that during days like this, when everything went so terribly wrong that it felt like death had her hands around his neck, laughing as he chocked on hair

The faraway echoes of the voices cheering "The canary is back", "the curse!", "give us angst", "give us blood!"

Most people on the server don't hear them, but they can feel their eyes, the watchers Martyn calls them, like some kind of omnipotent deity

like those things in Evo

Jimmy but the things in Evo had power, not them

those are weaker, louder, ever-present, they were here in empires, Hermitcraft even his solo world

chat, he called them or the viewers

It's less cool, less powerful, more casual but it fits

Once you get used to the entire, 'disembodied voice' thing they don't seem so different from a normal human

Sometimes Jimmy likes to talk to them like some rowdy kids in a classroom and it works strangely well

he doesn't bother correcting their comments about curses and death, he's the one who died stupidly after all

if they having fun then it's fine by him

"Jimmy?"

The avian squawked in surprise

"Holly molly! Etho you scared the life out of me!"

"What are you doing next to my base?"

"Oh, just walking 'round, getting some fresh air you know"

Etho raised an eyebrow

"Aaaalright, Tango's in his base, or what's left of it if you were looking for-"

"oh no no! I was really just stretching my legs you know"

"Suuurrreee"

"I am!"

"Ok men, just don't stay awake for too long"

"I won't, good night Etho"

"Good night, don't let the snails bite"

"Ha. ha."

Etho chuckled and stepped back into his base

Well he wasn't planning on doing it but might as well, he's already here anyway

"Hey, rancher!"

"BJFIEDPRFAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaa!!!!! W- What?! Jimmy?"

"Can people get some shut-eye here!"

"Sorry Bdubs!" "what are you doing here?"

Jimmy sat on the floor of the chared house next to the Blaze-born

"Couldn't sleep so I was just walking around, and you?"

"trying to sleep" Tango spat tiredly, rolling himself in a ball

"you can sleep like that?"

"After a day like that I could sleep anywhere, buddy"

"haha. Yeah, what a day"

"had it pretty rough today, didn't cha?"

"At least I'm on yellow"

"T'is weird for you to be on more lives than me"

"w- wa- hey!"

Tango laughed, body shaking from something other than the cold for the first time since the start of the conversation

The canary pulled the wool from his inventory and pulled on it, roughly shaping it

"What'chu doing ther- wha!"

"It's a blanket, for you"

"it doesn't look anywhere close to a blanket, and I don't need it"

"oh shush you, the way it's going you're going to shake hard enough to bring your house down is what's gonna happen"

"And who's fault is that?"

"Not mine!"

"Your buddy burned my dang house! again!"

"you killed our cows!"

"nah"

"What d'you mean 'nah'??!"

"Did not"

"Did to"

"nope"

"Who then???"

"not telling yah"

"gosh-"

Tango went back to laughing, Despite his initial complaint he still kept the makeshift blanket on, burrowing further in it

You'd think a guy whose whole schtick was being a fire being would be at least a little resistant to cold, turns out he got cold even more easily than humans

"Welp! gonna leave you"

"Huh, where are going?"

"dn't know"

"Not gonna sleep?"

He wasn't going to sleep he knew it, despite telling everyone the contrary, he just couldn't

apparently, the silence spoke for itself, Tango continued

"wanna stay here a little?"

"huh?"

"I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight so I'd like a buddy to talk to, if you want"

"...yeah, yeah sure!"

They stayed talking about the chaos in their team and the snails and everything in general, after some point the exhaustion started to lay heavy on both of them

"Sorry about earlier"

" 'bout what?"

" gave you a spook when I burned that rollercoaster didn't I?"

"I mean yeah, but it's fine"

"you sure?"

"yeah, it's just a little fire, always happened in this game, we got worst"

"heh true"

As if this was the only thing holding him awake Tango fell asleep on the spot, leaving Jimmy to keep him from plummeting head-first on the floor

little voices whispered somewhere "aww cute", " ranchers! ranchers!", "drop him!"

"Oh hush all of you!"

Looking down at the sleeping blaze-born, the avian realized he couldn't move without waking him up.

Yelp, guess he was spending the night here, Lizzie and Scar are not gonna be happy tomorrow, but that's a problem for tomorrow Jimmy

For now, he was going to look at the stars through a roofless building and wait the night out with the human embodiment of a heated blanket

The next day they would wake up to Etho's chuckles and Bdubs loud questioning

Lizzie and Scar would fake-dramatize Jimmy abandoning them to flirt around

And the viewers would spend the entire day screeching about it

But for now, he was warm, comfortable, he could finally feel his eyes getting heavy,

it felt good and it was all that mattered

[bluejackals]

I FINISHED THE PARROT UU VIDEO CHEERING CLAPPING I LOVE STRIFE AND TENSION AND WHEN IT'S NOBODY'S FAULT AND EVERYBODY'S FAULY (said while opening window to jump /j)

anyways some thoughts expanded upon notes I took while watching the video below:

SPOILERS BELOW CLICK KEEP READING TO SEE NOTES THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR THE VIDEO

wifies burnt the compass and wanted to go settle down with parrot somewhere else safe, but I agree with parrot that nowhere is safe. and also I agree that wifies actually did stray from his own values, because he was the one who told parrot to live and not just survive hiding somewhere and clearly parrot now takes that to heart while wifies wants to run from their problems. He said it was different this time because they'd be running into death and not just into a problem but functionally there's no difference. running back to confront clown was also running a risk to die.

I also feel like this whole video had a thread of parrot never breaking promises (it kept getting brought up that he was doing all this because of a promise, and that he wouldn't leave dean because he promised to protect him) and it was fascinating to watch wifies Not Get that. fascinating because wifies is only here because of a promise that parrot made, because of parrot never breaking promises, and yet he still doesn't understand why parrot is so insistent on carrying out what he said to luigi. it doesn't matter if luigi is dead, just like it didn't matter that wifies was chunkbanned and didn't hear him. parrot will follow through even if it kills him to try.

and I know that's what wifies doesn't want. it's very sensible of him to not want parrot to do that. but at this point he should know parrot has a stress grip on his promises and burning the compass and basically telling him to break that promise is equivalent to telling him to stop being everything he is. "the righteousness that you get from fighting isn't going to bring anyone back, it's going to get you killed, and where does that leave me and dean?" [3:04:18] everything wifies says is true. it's what he doesn't say that leads to him completely missing being able to reach parrot. If parrot doesn't fight he will lose himself, and that to him is probably a worse death than physically dying. that and because he believes, once again, that there is no safety, so he might as well try his damn hardest to make it safe.

odyssey are both trying to protect each other but they aren't able to understand each others' way of protection. maybe something in wifies snapped after he saw luigi die, right in front of him and parrot, and over and over he saw just how far the mafia reached. maybe he's now changed his mind and decided it's better to survive without living than to live without surviving. just seemed like he got a lot more possessive and protective this episode. how fun. I hope he reunites with parrot eventually. He realized that he completely fucking missed the moment Parrot threw that telescope and ran off. that telescope was a promise to trust each other and what wifies just did was break that promise. o7 uu!wifies I know you wanted the best for parrot but I have to agree with your post-yelling clarity messages: you weren't being fair. you were asking parrot to go against everything he is and trying to force him to, suddenly, after not saying anything for 9 million blocks, after someone else was JUST revealed to have betrayed his trust. it's not that what wifies said was wrong it was just never going to get across to parrot because parrot has a bleeding heart and this was the one thing he was hanging onto

[for-those-who-wait]

I said I would talk about wax cylinders so here I go a rambling again

So the wax cylinder was first invented in 1888 by Thomas Edison (so they're usually called Edison cylinders or phonograph cylinders). As you can probably gather, it's a cylinder made of wax. It was the first piece of technology that would record and play back sound that was sold commercially (they technically made an earlier version using tin foil back in 1877 but it was shit and was never commercially produced so we don't talk about that one). Wax cylinders by 1889 were typically sold with pre-recorded music on them that had to be live-recorded every time. They were typically bought up by nickelodeons (I could make a whole post about those as well but I'll save you the Google and say they were basically old movie theatres that cost a nickel to attend) before they ever made it to households

To play and record wax cylinders, they made a whole machine for it called the phonograph—and you can stop right there, it's not the one you're thinking.

This one came before the record was even thought of, but it basically works the same as your regular disc phonograph. It was a large box that contained a holder for the cylinder, a way to turn it, a (usually) sapphire-tipped needle, and a horn to expel the sound. Some boxes also contained gears and motors to support two different speeds, which would thus alter how much music you could fit onto a cylinder (or disc). To explain how playing the cylinder works, I'll first explain the process of recording onto it.

To record on a wax cylinder, one would have to first purchase a recording needle and recording horn. These were usually sold with the machine, but the stuff could also be sold separately. When the motor starts and the recording needle is placed onto the cylinder, you would speak loudly into the horn. The vibrations from your voice, focused by the horn, would cause the needle to create very subtle waves and divots in the wax; this would literally scrape the wax off of the cylinder and create a bunch of string and dust you would have to brush away. These divots work in the same way that vinyl records do when you're playing them. You place the needle on the surface, turn on the motor, and the needle runs over those really small divots to replay the sound. Ignore the stupid watermarks this was the best picture I could find on short notice

Now, the problem with wax cylinders was that they could only hold about two to two and a half minutes of sound. The other problem is the fact that they're literally made of wax. The wax they used at first (beeswax and paraffin) was soft and squishy and not a very hardy material in the least. They're easily damaged, they melt, and with all the very small divots etched into the surface, any damage at all severely impacts the quality of the sound. Not only that, but even playing the damn thing is enough to ruin the quality of the sound if you use it too many times.

And guess how many times you can play it before it starts getting all messed up.

Just guess.

If you guessed twenty then you're correct.

As you can imagine, this was completely unacceptable, and the softer wax was eventually changed to a more hardened wax, which could be played over a hundred times. But even that wasn't enough for our cylinder overlords, and they started producing hard plastic cylinders made of celluloid instead that could be played thousands of times (pictured below)

(Also it's called gold moulded because this was when cylinders could now be mechanically mass-produced using the mold from a single master cylinder)

Now I know I was just shitting on the wax, but the one good thing about it is that because the cylinders were very thick and soft, you could shave it down and re-record onto it like it was new. Not so with the plastic. But hey, the good thing about plastic is that it's damn near permanent and it's harder to break. This is also around when they started introducing new colors that you could get the cylinders in. Any shade between brown and white was the OG wax color, which they changed to black when upgrading to celluloid, but they could also produce cylinders in blue as long as people were fine with having slightly reduced sound quality.

Things were good. People loved their cylinders, loved playing them, loved buying and recording on them, it was great

But then in 1912, the pesky phonograph disc was invented and it completely took over the market.

We're mature enough here to admit that the cylinders are bulky and spatially inefficient. There was a new version by this point that could hold up to four minutes of music, but it was no match for the novelty of the disc phonograph and the ease with which someone could make a larger or two-sided disc to completely swamp that length. Discs were cheaper, easier to use, and easier to store. We were no match for them

Although Edison still supported owners of the cylinder phonograph with new tracks, they were recorded off a disc phonograph instead of live, so the quality was actually worse than it used to be. The cylinders fell out of style a few years after the discs' corporate win and their popularity slowly declined until their discontinuation in 1929. So all in all, the wax cylinder survived for 41 good years but became completely obsolete in about 24. Which is actually not bad for a piece of technology like that? It's probably a prime example of the exponential boom of technology getting infinitely more advanced and infinitely more quickly. Like I don't know what modern, highly-consumerist thing can manage to stay relevant for 24 years, that's just insane to me. Like even CDs started getting the shaft at around 19 years

Anyway RIP the wax cylinder I love you

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

Syd is the pattern breaker

Which is great news in terms of Sydcarmy ENDGAME.

It's not like we all, Sydcarmy truthers, haven't seen that one coming. Of course, we have always known this lady came to turn it all around in Carmy's world from the very get-go, it was always painfully obvious.

BUT

Here is another pattern that she has come to erase from the life of Carmy (and the show)

(He's fighting it like a champ, I must say)

Storer likes strong women who take charge and take the initiative to go after the men they love so the man doesn’t have to (in fiction, IDK about his real life). The guy is the one who gets to decide whether he accepts her advances or innuendos and responds to them, but he doesn’t really take the first step; she does.

Refer to my napkins theory (handkerchief section) please.

Exhibit A: Jess

Jess made it clear she was into Richie in 2x7. Also, at Syd's party. She is up for it and made it clear, even when Richie has not picked up her handkerchief yet.

I don't know about Tiff, nor do I care

Exhibit B: The C person

He created the C person and I will not elaborate on that one. Fuck her!

Exhibit C: Sugar

He created Sugar who is clearly the one who wears the pants in the relationship, and taking into account Pete’s personality, was probably the one who was all over him from day 1, and he was just like: “Yeah Nat, whatever you say, you’re so great, ILY.”

Exhibit D: Tina

He created Tina, same energy as Nat but her husband is no Pete, so I’m not sure about how her relationship with her husband began, I can only safely assume she always speaks her mind. So I’m sure she was open about her feelings when she met her husband, no riddles.

Exhibit E: Donna

He created Donna and same, there’s no version of the story where Donna was ever shy or quiet and not open, if not too open, about her feelings when she met Carmy’s dad (like you know who: the C person) and that’s probably why they got together to begin with and also one of the reasons why he left her eventually. She’s overwhelmingly vocal about how she feels for ppl because the excessive booze removes any social boundaries and barriers and she’s always ready to shout it in everyone’s face. That’s changing though. But that's how she was written into existence by Storer, to begin with.

The game changer → Sydney Adamu

So, that takes us to Syd who never openly flirted with Carmy, unless we count Pasta 2x2 (which I don’t).

And never really read the awkward signs he was trying to give her (which I hate but totally understand because they are business partners and she's a professional).

And so… we have a pattern breaker here. That in Storer’s book means MEAT.

We've reached the meat of the matter, chefs! YAY!

So, there are about a zillion foreshadowing leads we could analyze of how that game change in terms of the female role in the courtship dynamic will play out SOON, Storer wasn't precisely slick throughout the series, but the most obvious and recent one was brought to us hidden in plain sight, in S3 -3x5- and I already went over it here (my own RB notes from 7/27):

The point is that as the post it says: "ALL QUESTIONS ASK SYDNEY!"

That means that dynamic will have to be reversed for Sydcarmy to happen, CARMY WILL HAVE TO POP THE QUESTION. LOL!

No, not that question. Well... maybe eventually, but I'm actually talking about the CONFESSION and asking her out, asking her out on a date or something and I don't mean a symbolic date like the fucking funeral he completely ignored her at and where he then ditched her too. I'm talking about really and openly telling her how he feels for her, and exposing himself to her rejection. Not the other way around.

She has to enable this, of course, so in a sense, she will have to break her patterns for Carmy too, because love is an act of mirroring, as we all know by now.

But it´s Carmy who will have to grow a pair and put into words what has remained unspoken between them and is starting to decay inside -and it's ruining their whole relationship-. He will have to turn the dynamic around and take the role that Storer usually puts "strong women" in, and open up and go after who he wants. He will have to be the strong one and say it out loud. ASK ALL THE QUESTIONS because Syd has all the answers and her answers are the game changers of the show.

I wish it went like this (let's imagine Tanner is either Shapiro or Luca):

Fun fact: Demian Lewis said that he characterized Bobby Axelrod by playing him like a wild animal, tapping into that energy and bringing in it on set every day to play his scenes. He didn't say the beast was a bear though.

Bonus track: Ayo Edebiri. Ayo´s pattern is to be the pattern breaker of the plot. The → plot twist.

Ayo always plays the game-changer character. In Omni Loop, she did too, I'm sure her next movie with Luca Guadagnino will be the same thing. She is drawn to that type of characters and plays them beautifully.

Remember to follow my tag #Gingerpovs💋