The Aftermath

medieval manuscript commission for @/kathrynthehuman.bsky.social

oof

Nicknames: when you shorten someone’s name affectionately

Nicholasnames: when you elongate someone’s name affectionately

“nobody is making you do this” i am driven by unnatural forces you will never even begin to comprehend

he knitted his own halloween sweater everyone say you're proud of him 🎃🍂🍁🐸

I have been listening to The Protomen albums on loop ever since I discovered them a few months ago, and I have been making some observations on really cool details between songs, one of which I wanted to highlight today: what I have been affectionately referring to as the "funeral motif."

See when some buddies and I first listened through Album I, we got hung up on that whistle at the beginning of Unrest in the House of Light. It kinda stands out, right? An early theory had us wondering if it was related to what motivated Light to tell Megaman the truth. So I did a few listens through trying to figure out what it could mean. From what I can tell, the first instance we hear it in is Funeral for a Son. It's in the spotlight as the brass comes in, and then falls into the background as the song progresses. But! That's not the only time we hear it! It also appears in the very end of Keep Quiet. While all three have those same three notes in common, Unrest has them standing alone, while the other two conclude it in two different ways; Keep Quiet feels tense and anticipatory, while Funeral sounds like it has more finality.

My conclusion is that the funeral motif heralds an incoming disaster, or highlights moments of Hamartia in the characters where this trait will ultimately doom them and everyone around them. Or something like that. In any case, I put together all the pieces I found, and this post is mostly just to set that free into the world. But I may have missed more instances, so if anyone finds more please tell me!!

see i know that we all like to make fun of luke skywalker, hick farmer from the back of nowhere, thinking that shooting womp rats with the space equivalent of his dad’s old rifle is somehow sufficient preparation for taking down the death star; but i love the idea that actually womp rats are six foot abominations of teeth, spines & poison and bulls-eyeing them is actually excellent preparation for the rebellion. think about it: swarms of six foot rats, and some skinny kid with an outdated weapon taking them out, cool as paint. hardened soldiers whisper scary stories to each other, about the monsters who scavenge in the sands, stripping a camp of everything living in five seconds flat, and luke just saying oh, womp rats? they’re nothing. great with a bit of butter and some toast.  

“cmere boy”

*sound of clanging pots and pans getting closer*

I shouldn’t have inked this on this flimsy paper.