Hi! I'm Ash / Cash, creator of way too many Little Guys :3
You might also know me from my main, @ash-fire3moji, or my reblog account, @everything2. And now I'm also here. lol
More info under cut
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Name: Ash or Cash
Pronouns: They/he
Age: Minor
DNI: Anti-LGBTQ+, pro/comshippers, racists, bigotry in general
Favorite object shows: RJC:MPREG, BFDI, II, ONE, ITFT, AB, TNM, PPT2, BURNER, OBS, RJC:BFAK
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SOME OF MY TAGS:
#tersevan art - my art :)
#cashyap - idk, just me saying stuff
#cashwip - wips or me talking about wips
#evt golden gate - posts that remind me of Everything (2017)
this is seriously messed up. all objects with code (or maybe even all mechanical objects) must have a self-destruct sequence set in place if there are "previously recorded actions and presence of malicious software".
if they get a virus, the NATIONAL LAW is set to KILL THEM instead of CURING IT. it doesn't once even mention trying to!
a commenter pointed out the possible discrimination against mechanical objects and the more i rewatch the more they're right. Mouse, despite being integral to the team, is let go without a second glance once she speaks up. Speaker is looked down upon by his colleagues (not just Pan Flute!) and there's not any respect given by them when he's dead. Key immediately just assumes that the most reasonable explanation for GPS was that he was always planning to kill them and self-destructed to escape consequences, despite the presence of the chip. (and we KNOW that one's not true.)
and of course, Ring took advantage of one of the people she disliked being electronic and used him to kill everyone else. if she'd survived, she probably would've used the explanation Key came up with. and i mean... she's rich. she probably wouldn't have faced any consequences with the lawyers she could buy.
this shit is systemic, and it's been hiding under our noses the whole time. it's disturbingly realistic, too. if our world was inhabited by objects, i could see this being something that would happen.
I’m gonna be real I stopped posting my art here cause it was pretty clear not one person gave a fuck about any of it, but I like this one well enough so what the hell I guess I’ll put it out here
i always find it fascinating when a character gets headcanoned as both transmasc and transfem by different members of the fandom because it like. highlights how being closeted and stealth can look similar from the outside but are internally very different experiences. does your blorbo have a Thing (tm) about gender because they're trying to beat down the part of them that desperately wants to transition? or did they start transitioning a decade ago and view it as private information that theyre not gonna talk about casually. choose wisely because your answer may have implications.
episode 98 analysis because i love this episode so much
obviously spoilers under the cut!! (this spoils the entire episode, read it first before looking at this post)
god i have so much to say about this episode.
pretty much everything citrus says is passive aggressive as fuck, but this one particularly stings considering this is the guy he just kissed. it reminds me of the complimentary water bottle comment from just a few episodes ago that's appended with "you prick"
i love the environmental storytelling here!! it's hard to say if objects outside were trying to get in or if objects inside were trying to escape outwards but neither option would have resulted in their survival, sadly!
i like when the sexual humor has an in-universe explanation. why the fuck did spool say that and then not elaborate further? why is he just staring at citrus? of course citrus is awkward here, what do you even say to that LMAO
i really like that spool is shown regretting the decision to kiss citrus! their relationship is imperfect and should absolutely be displayed that way. it's much more realistic that way, too
the little citrus tailwag here is so important to me he's such a chump. does he even know how stupid he looks. my citrus plush will be getting used as a basketball
i do have to wonder, why did it take spool this long to think of his pet? if this were me i'd be thinking about my cats the first HOUR of the apocalypse, not months later, especially if i was going back to where they lived knowing their dead bodies would be there... maybe he's thought about his budgie in the past but the last few weeks he's been so preoccupied with citrus he hasn't had the time or energy to think of it beyond "i miss them" or "i hope they're okay"? spool makes me so sad as a character. he doesn't have the space to even consider his personal life, it's all gotta be about either his survival or citrus in general
man... this is literally the only thing citrus has done out of kindness rather than for survival for spool in the entire comic, everything else has been purely to ensure he doesn't die which is really the bare minimum, or a total farce, like in the first ever episode. it took citrus falling in love with spool to do one nice thing for him. that fucks me up
also, it's interesting we've seen spool depicted as a bird not once but twice now with the cupid wings and tinsel, so i wonder if spool could metaphorically be seen as a bird in a cage as citrus's hostage? if so, the bird being dead does not inspire much confidence in his eventual fate!! it's a really powerful analogy, at least
THE BIG REVEAL!!!!!!!! ohh my god this panel is everything to me. it took two and a half years to get a CRUMB of spool's life outside being citrus's victim but we finally got it!!!! and we can infer SO MUCH from this panel: he likes birds, he smokes weed (we did already know this but not from the comic itself), he likes birds, he didn't even bother to iron his pride flag, they like birds, they're at least passionate enough about their computer to invest in a second monitor, he likes birds, they're scatterbrained enough to avoid cleaning and fixing their personal space, he likes birds, he knows origami to at least some degree... and he likes birds!!! this is purely a me thing, but birdwatching is one of my biggest irl hobbies and i have dozens of books about birds/bird figurines/bird photographs, so of course i get immediately attached to any character that loves them as much as i do. and this is also genuinely heartbreaking because now, even if spool survives the apocalypse by some miracle (he won't)... he's always going to associate his biggest passion with the man who kidnapped him and forced him to commit murder in his name. he's never going to be able to look at a bird again without seeing his dead pet. he'll only be able to think of morrigan or ID_FRAGMENTA trying to kill him. from now on they're going to see birds as a source of terror, not comfort. and that's one of the saddest things that could ever be the case, i think, for someone who clearly has a lifelong interest in birds. we're actively watching spool see the the one thing he loves the most be corrupted and killed in front of him. let that sink in for a minute!
to a degree citrus does seem genuinely remorseful in these panels, but doesn't know how/if he should express it. this could be the first time in his entire life that he's ever felt this way towards another person, in fact, it almost definitely is
citrus is right here, there's no way he could've known spool had a pet bird (or any pet for that matter), but spool is right too, in a sense. i don't think anyone's pets would've survived the apocalypse in the long run, but there was even less of a chance of it living after citrus kidnapped spool. neither of them are in the right, which... goes for pretty much every character pair in the whole comic. #MyNuance
these are easily some of my favorite faces in the entire comic, some of chester's best work in my opinion!! you can feel them breaking down and losing the will to live
citrus is framed as an imposing silhouette here, which feels like a deliberate choice to make him more intimidating. it's a stark reminder that citrus won't let spool die, even if they want to. it's also interesting to note that his tears are shaped like stars. maybe this panel is meant to be a nod to citrus getting his eventual onset advance...? if so, it feels very delirium-coded with the glowing red eyes and domineering way of speech to me at least. i can imagine citrus killing someone with his claws and his teeth moreso than i can imagine him painting a pretty picture for spool, i suppose? lol
i'm glad that we keep getting reminders that citrus has made spool's life significantly worse but also better at the same time. on one hand, if citrus hadn't kidnapped them they'd be wandering around as a parasite in excruciating pain, which is obviously the worse outcome- but at the same time, how much better is it really to be kidnapped by a serial killer, forced to commit murder, constantly belittled and insulted and given no choices whatsoever in any of it? of COURSE spool feels this way! anyone would, i'd imagine. it really is a horrible and very scary situation for them
and citrus is right in this too!! it's true, there's no ethical way for him to continue living! his mere continued existence REQUIRES the deaths of others! even if he WAS capable of a healthy relationship, it would hinge on his partner either being an accomplice to regular murders or being kept entirely unaware of his actual species and dietary requirements, being fundamentally lied to about who and what they're dating. otherwise it would be inherently unhealthy as it would require his partner literally being his food source, which would inevitably kill them, however slowly- and as we see later on, this is exactly what is going to happen to spool, most likely. just like what happened to calamondin in reach of ice.
i feel for both of them here. both their lives are now reduced to a futile struggle to survive the end of the world and there's nothing they can do about it. even if spool was able to escape and/or citrus changed his mind, they'd both either starve or be assimilated. there is no other way for them to both survive than continue to hurt others and be hurt by each other
i really love the framing of the cranes... it feels like a reminder that despite what citrus is saying here, they're still being actively hunted by morrigan, she's just temporarily distracted by her partial assimilation. i don't think the desire to hunt and kill her children is going to magically disappear as a parasite; in fact, i think it's going to get even worse. what if ID_FRAGMENTA can eat objects' souls just like morrigan can? we've seen parasite adaptations such as gigantism before from the assimilation of false kings, so i think this could definitely be possible. i mean, if warhammer's assimilation created threespines...
also, this feels like citrus is borderline delusional about what's actually happening; he seems to interpret the apocalypse here as a net positive, giving him free reign over the city to find victims and places to shelter, rather than the... literal end of the world... just ignore the spider birds probably killing dozens of survivors. it's a really interesting look into his mind and how it works! i love these little glimpses we get into the characters' heads
FINALLY!!!!!!!!! they can FINALLY be on actual equal ground, rather than kidnapper and victim. obviously that doesn't magically fix their dynamic, but it's at least a start to something slightly more functional...
oh. nevermind.
this is a really complex scene and i was really worried reading this ahead of the curb that a lot of the younger readers would miss the intention, so in case anyone isn't able to easily decipher this: i think this is meant to be read as citrus believing this is the "morally correct" option for him to choose, as he would no longer be able to hurt spool in this scenario- but then he immediately shifts the responsibility of his hypothetical death onto spool by saying "it's your turn to take everything", almost verbatim what spool said while having a suicidal breakdown just pages earlier. this kind of speech is INCREDIBLY manipulative and toxic; but in citrus's case, we know it's not out of genuine malice or anything, it's because he just... genuinely doesn't know better. i'm glad to see spool thinks it's as awkward as i do! he's clearly very uncomfortable with citrus saying this, which... yeah, i think anyone would be. it's made even worse by the fact that citrus is 28, another reminder of how long he's been living like this, unable to learn how to healthily interact with others, just surviving on the outskirts of normal life. it makes you wonder just how socially inept he truly is, considering he's good enough at manipulation and deceit to lure men into his home to kill them? it's like knowing the ingredients but not having the recipe to put them together, and unfortunately, spool isn't exactly a chef.
this is the best possible outcome in my opinion! spool is refusing to let citrus die and is instead taking the reins himself by forming their new deal. they're standing up for themself, and importantly, citrus lets them. this is a very important development for their relationship, i think, even if the reasoning for citrus's acceptance of it (his newfound crush on spool) may be interpreted as selfish by some. i guess sometimes that's all it takes to start viewing someone not as property but as a person.
i wonder how much of spool saying this is because he's sympathetic to citrus's situation and how much of it is spool knowing they can't feasibly survive on their own without someone to fly them around, find resources and fend off parasites? maybe it's one or the other, or more likely, it's a mix of the two. who knows! citrus sure doesn't seem to.
this might be the best way to end of the episode! i love the parallel of them both calling themselves stupid for how they act towards one another. they both seem wildly inexperienced with relationships as a whole and it certainly manifests in ways! LOL
tl;dr i fucking love this episode and while it doesn't top doomed world, i'm confident in calling it my second favorite episode ever. we got much-needed development for spool, a glimpse into citrus's mind, both of them changing their deal and some really good panels! i really hope the rest of the fandom enjoys its complexities too, not just the haha funny yaoi.
I kept having this nagging theory-ish of Spool being suicidal because. Actually I have no idea why I thought that of Spool but. i guess i predicted it kind of
I’d say he’d be the kind to attempt suicide if not at least be passively suicidal (having thoughts of killing ykurself but not actually acting on it). Am I going too deep on this or
i don't think this is reading too much into it at all!
this panel does NOT read to me like someone who ultimately cares if he lives or dies
and he denies it in the next page, but it's such a deliberate thing to draw attention to that i struggle to fully believe it. if he's not suicidal, even passively, he's at least internalized that his chances of survival are very small imo
Ok I’m not going insane then that’s good okey. Also 1) you can’t tie a noose and hang yourself because objects don’t have respiratory systems and 2)Spool is tube shaped. How would he even do that
titsay
romaincrisis
yousharknotpass
snowghoul
kaledo-art
