(The best of this post and its reblogs, but with links that work)
Here is a website where you can scroll down to all the different levels of the oceanÂ
Here is a website where you can see the future of the universe
Here is a website where you can press a âmake everything okayâ button, over and over, until things really are okay
Here is a website that you can read if you feel like a burden
Here is a website where you can look at strobe illusions (TW strobe/flashing)
Here is a website where you can cut stuff up (TW blood/sh)
Here and here are websites where you can play with sand
Here is a website where you can draw with macaroni and other fun foods
Here is a website where you can paint someoneâs nails
Here is a website where you can grow a garden with emojis
Here is a website with hundreds of videos of people hugging you (rightfully dubbed âthe nicest place on the internetâ because it really is, yâall, it made me cry)
Here is a website that will take you to other useless websites
Here is a website where you can make a tiny cat play bongo drums (and other instruments!)
Here is a website to help give you gentle reminders <3
Here is a website where you can grow a tiny farm
Here is a website where you can take a bunch of scientific personality tests
Here is a website of calm rain noise
Take a breath. Itâs going to be okay, I promise.
i was introduced to jelleâs marble runs and now iâm hooked like wdym they have marble olympics that are somehow more gripping than the real olympics
[Alt Text: I don't know who needs to hear this, but writing is hard because you care about it and you want it to be good, not because you're bad at it. /End ID]
a really excellent way to reduce anxiety is to pick up a new hobby. find something youâre interested in, learn it, then use it as a healthy and productive way to cope.
learn to play guitar
learn how to make interactive stories with the free program Twine
learn how to make pixel art
learn another language
learn how to build a ship in a bottle
learn how to develop your own film
learn how to embroider
learn how to make chiptunes (8-bit music)
learn how to make origami (the art of paper folding)
I think more historical fantasies and alt histories that have gay marriage be allowed should mess around with the societal implications of this. If your aristocracy allows gay marriage, why? As a release valve for inheritance problems, like monasticism was in parts of medieval Europe? As a way of removing your failchild from the line of succession by legally binding them to the failchild of your political ally, ensuring any offspring they both have will be illegitimate? How about a society where the lower classes are allowed to be gay but the nobility arenât? Idk thereâs just a lot of options that are more interesting than âhomophobia just doesnât realâ
For adoption to work as a solution to the question of issue, I think Iâd want the parents to raise the children themselves, and thatâs a very different model from how European aristocracies (and wealthy non-aristocrats for a long time) have historically operated⊠hmm
In a setting with magic maybe to accomplish a political marriage you have to mix your bloods together to create a vile little homunculus and then your vile homunculus rules the kingdom. Like how the Hapsburgs did it :)
this plan ddidn't work great over here. just an fyi that the "vile homunculus king" plan did NOT fucking work at all okay when my aunt & uncle did the plan to Hastinapura. and im just making sure you are aware, of this fact
Unfortunately vile homunculuses operate pretty much exactly like regular heirs to kingdoms, and well over 1% of heirs turn out to be evil. If you've got 100 heirs it's just statistics at that point
Look, if the prince is married to another man, then you don't have to worry about biological children claiming the throne, and if you adopt an heir after they reach adulthood, then at least you have somewhat of an idea of whether the heir is a shithead before deciding to adopt them or not.
The problem is that this can leave a long period of time where there's no heir and succession is unclear, and it's always possible for a perfectly good seeming heir to be corrupted by power long before they even inherit the throne.
Because hey, it turns out that monarchy is maybe a bad system that's always got a chance of putting terrible people in charge, and once that happens, they tend to stay in charge.
I got a laptop with Windows 11 for an IT course so I can get certified, and doing the first time device set-up for it made me want to commit unspeakable violence
Windows 11 should not exist, no one should use it for any reason, it puts ads in the file explorer and has made it so file searches are also web searches and this cannot be turned off except through registry editing. Whoever is responsible for those decisions should be killed, full stop.
u r absolutely right I have SO many complaints about Windows omg.
For anyone who'd like to follow along, I'm gonna share how to get around those things with group policies bc they're more user friendly and descriptive than registry editor imo :3 I'll also show how to get around needing a Microsoft account to get setup.
For the Device Setup
"OOBE" stands for Out Of Box Experience which is what that setup workflow is. But it also happens to be a folder with a little program in it that'll let you skip connecting to the internet; this makes it so you don't have to sign up with a Microsoft account and can just use a normal local one instead. And it already comes preinstalled! Here's how you get to it:
Hold Shift + F10, or Shift + Fn + F10 depending on your keyboard.
Click inside the window that pops up, type the following and press enter afterwards to run it: OOBE\BypassNRO
I believe it should restart your computer automatically, but if not then restart your computer or type: shutdown /r /t 0 /f
Now when you're brought back to the setup workflow, the page where you connect to the internet will have a new button on it that lets you say you don't have internet. Clicking that and proceeding through the rest of the setup lets you get around the Microsoft account thing.
Group Policies
You don't have to know much about them, these are just a bunch of specific settings for what your computer can or can't do that lets you decide how it works in different ways.
I'm gonna show you how to turn off the recommendations and internet stuff basically. For now bring up search and type gpedit, pick this
It'll open up to Local Group Policy Editor and we can get started :3c
Start Recommendations
In the side menu, go to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar. Click on Settings to sort them with all the "Turn off" ones bumped to the top.
Here's what you should set:
Turn off user tracking: enabled
Turn off feature advertisement balloon notifications: enabled
Remove Recommended section from Start Menu: enabled
Remove Personalized Website Recommendations from the Recommended section in the Start Menu: enabled
Do not search Internet: enabled
Windows Spotlight
Back in the side menu, go down to Windows Components > Cloud Content
Turn off all Windows spotlight features: enabled
Do not use diagnostic data for tailored experiences: enabled
Cortana
In the side menu, this one's back at the top under Computer Configuration. You're gonna want to go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search
Allow Cortana: disabled
Don't search the web or display web results in Search: enabled
News and Interests
In the side menu go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > News and interests.
Enable news and interests on the taskbar: disabled
Microsoft Account Login Nudges
When you don't use a Microsoft account they'll nudge you repeatedly to sign in so you can "get the most out of your experience" *gag*. The group policy for turning that off has a note that suggests it might not work with Windows 11 though (implicitly), so you can close the group policy editor window now and for this last one let's just open up the regular settings.
Go to System > Notifications > Additional settings, then uncheck all the boxes. And there ya go! (âżâ âżâ )ïŸ u are done.
Group policies are kind of a rabbit hole so while there is a lot more you could change or read into, for your own sanity's sake I would advise against it and say call it a day lol
I endorse this as an IT technician. I do this to every new Win11 device I set up.
As a bonus, run Chris Titus Tech's debloat tool on it.
Having Fun with Technology
It allows you to add tools, remove/disable shitty parts of windows, and easily change some settings. My default is running the preset for a desktop/laptop and applying security update settings, but there are so many options to customize. I used it on my personal laptop.
monologue culture: why we overshare to no one in particular
an essay on the quiet poetry of talking too much to no one at all
thereâs a peculiar intimacy to monologuing into the ether. a sort of emotional exhale into digital spacesâvoice notes no one asked for, captions that feel like confessionals, 3am tumblr posts typed like love letters and left unsigned. this isnât attention-seeking, not really. itâs something more tender. more tired. more complex.
weâre not always speaking to be heard. sometimes, we speak because the silence is heavier than the vulnerability.
this is monologue culture.
itâs the way we sit with our feelingsâout loud. it's the way we narrate heartbreak to an instagram caption or cry-write three paragraphs into a notes app. itâs when someone asks, âhow are you?â and we respond with a novel, even if no oneâs reading it. itâs the paradox of speaking into the void and hoping someone sees it, but not really minding if they donât.
we do this not because weâre unwell (though sometimes, yes), but because itâs a way of survival. we monologue as a soft rebellion against isolation. a kind of makeshift companionship. an archive of our own emotional literacy. a way to know ourselvesâout loud.
a little history: the diary, digitized
before there were late-night rants on twitter or poetic overshares on tumblr, there were diariesâpages upon pages of musings, monologues, maybes. people have always needed a place to speak privately but not silently. the digital age didnât invent oversharing; it just made it observable.
now, we narrate our lives publicly, semi-publicly, or in âclose friendsâ stories meant only for a curated few. but even when we share to no one, when we lock a post or leave it untagged, thereâs still a performance to it. a soft kind. not to be admired, but to be witnessed. like cracking open a window and hoping someone hears the piano playing.
the emotional logic of oversharing
so why do we do it?
why pour our hearts into spaces not designed to hold them?
wellâfor one, thereâs structure in monologuing. thereâs clarity in forming thoughts into paragraphs. thereâs relief in naming what weâre feeling, even if weâre doing it while crying into our pillow with one arm extended for typing.
oversharing, especially when it feels one-sided, is often less about the listener and more about the speaker. itâs the emotional equivalent of picking at a knot until it loosens. you talk it through not because you want advice, but because the weight feels lighter when spoken. and when writtenâoh, when writtenâit feels like a spell cast to trap the ache between lines.
fun fact: âoversharingâ is often gendered
did you know that the very idea of oversharing is loaded with bias? in communication studies and digital discourse, the label is disproportionately applied to femmes and feminine-coded speech. women and girls are told they âtalk too much,â âgo too deep,â or âmake things awkwardâ with emotional openness.
but in reality? sharing openly, and with nuance, is a form of emotional fluency. itâs not oversharing. itâs storytelling. and storytelling is power. itâs a legacy passed down through letters, journals, whispered poems in the dark.
so the next time you call yourself cringey for oversharing on your blog or sending a five-minute voice note to your best friend about the way a bird looked at youâmaybe pause. maybe remember that talking too much about what hurts is a kind of care. maybe even a kind of art.
the performance of silence vs. the performance of speech
we romanticize the quiet typesâthe mysterious ones who âdonât post muchâ or âkeep to themselves.â but we rarely ask why someone shares out loud. we rarely notice how brave it is to monologue without a promise of being understood.
silence can be powerful. but so can loud vulnerability. and those who monologueâthose who overshare, whisper their spirals, dramatize their heartbreaks with all the flair of a tragic heroineâdeserve grace.
thereâs performance in all kinds of expression. but monologuing is a unique one. itâs a performance of being present in your own unraveling. itâs what happens when you refuse to disappear just because you're hurting.
monologues as placeholders for connection
when we talk to âno one in particular,â weâre often talking to the someone we wish existed. the best friend whoâs still awake. the stranger who might get it. the future version of ourselves whoâll reread our rants and finally understand.
itâs not loneliness that drives monologue cultureâitâs hope. a strange, soft hope that somewhere, someone might nod along, or smile a little, or whisper âsameâ into the dark.
we write long captions, post rambling blogs, tweet drafts meant for no audience because it feels like company. it feels like weâre building a trail of breadcrumbs back to ourselves.
being known vs. being heard
thereâs a distinct ache in wanting to be known rather than just heard. and monologues? they bridge that gap. they reveal who we are in ways casual conversations rarely do.
a tumblr post about how your heart feels like a cracked teacup says more than âiâm sad.â a ramble about a stranger who reminded you of someone you lost says more than âi miss you.â
these moments, these monologuesâthey stitch together the poetry of living. they say: iâm trying. iâm feeling. iâm reaching.
and yes, maybe no one will reply. maybe no one will read the entire thing. but it lives. it exists. and that matters.
in defense of talking too much
maybe this is your sign to keep narrating. to keep voice-noting. to keep typing things out like they matterâbecause they do. maybe you are not too much. maybe you are just alive in a world that often asks us to mute our inner symphonies.
so write the three-paragraph instagram caption. post the crying selfie if it helps. rant to your drafts. record your thoughts in the middle of the night. speak, even if youâre not sure anyoneâs listening.
because sometimes, the person who needs to hear you mostâis you.
âyou can just make an ocâ you dont understand anything. the character needs to mutate naturally until unrecognizable. like all evolutionary processes it takes time. you canât force it or it doesnât take. you must endure weird ooc thematically discordant versions of a guy until they bud off into beautiful new life. have patience
I love Enlighter. Most annoying man you've ever met in your life actually does stand for truth and justice. Refuses to stop being complete pill about it in very petty ways. Motivated primarily by spite and envy but unwilling to lie or cheat to get ahead. WILL go through your entire internet history to drag out all your receipts just because you beat him in a popularity contest. Still isn't actually revealing anything untrue or even misleading.
the âMirabelleâ segment in the Mal du Pays fight stands out so sharply compared to the rest of the âpartyâ encounters.
for every other character, we get something intensely personal and specific to the relationship Siffrin has with them and how that represents a facet of his own character and self-imageâall through the warped lens of hatred and doubt, but still indicative of what Siffrin values and fears in regards to each of them.
âBonnieâ points out Siffrinâs failings as a protector, how all his attempts to keep Bonnie safe has only ever caused them pain. It calls back to their friendquest, the kingquest, and the ârotten adultsâ event.
âOdileâ questions the humanity & personhood of someone without memory, history, or culture rooting them to the world, and dismisses their friendship as impossible. It calls back to her friendquest, their shared sense of distance from the concepts of âhomeâ and âfamily,â the forgotten country, and the âweâre not friendsâ joke she makes that Siffrin instantly internalizes until the first full family run.
âIsabeauâ admonishes their clinginess, their fear of change and intimacy, their desperation for love driving them to manipulate him and the rest of the party because the "realâ Siffrin is unknowable and unlovable. It once again calls back to his friendquest, Siffrinâs touch therapy, the Favor Tree shoulder touch/Bad Touch, and the confession (warped, here, into a confession of disconnect and disgust).
for Mirabelle, we getâŠ
itâs bare-bones, almost generic compared to the others. there are a few obvious reasons for this!
first, MDP does open its mouth to continue. maybe it was going to continue this âsceneâ with Mirabelle, or maybe it was going to switch to another track. we donât know.
compared to the way the other sections start, Mirabelleâs gets much harsher, much faster. the others begin with confusion, disappointment, resignation. slowly and steadily laying out exactly why Siffrin brings them so much grief.
âMirabelleâ gets right to the point. a simple, eager dismissal, cutting to the heart of the matter without hesitation or build-up, devastating in its simplicity. more than anything, rather than warping any positive memory, it calls back to Mirabelleâs botched friendquest in act 5, with her immediately slapping him and saying they were never friends before she leaves them alone. like that event erased all the good that came before it.
itâs an immediate attack, prompting Siffrin to cut it off before we get a chance to âlearnâ more, had the encounter continued.
structurally, this single line is the finishing blow, the thing that pushes Siffrin to their breaking point. having listened to their âpartyâ tear into them, protests growing weaker and weaker each time, no longer able to listen to a single word more, he attacks instead. itâs the culmination of everything that came beforeâevery other characterâs lengthier message could be distilled into this statement.
itâs an emotionally punchy way to end the party section of the encounter. but it gives us almost nothing to latch onto when it comes to the specifics of Siffrinâs relationship to Mirabelle. not like the others do.
soâŠ.what does it tell us?
well. first off it really reminds me of a different sceneâone from the Prologue.
itâs almost a miniature inverse of the MDP scene. a succinct reaffirmation of the bonds Siffrin shares with each of them. itâs affectionate and warm and emotionalâthe humor and camaraderie between him and Isa, the driving determination and protectiveness that Bonnie inspires, the quiet and clever understanding at the core of Odile.
but, again, Mirabelleâs part is moreâŠfactual? distant? impersonal? sheâs the savior. her quest brought them together. it doesnât tell you a lot about what makes Siffrinâs relationship with Mirabelle significant.
which. is actually the thing that i think is particularly telling.
i talked about how Mirabelle doesnât fully believe that Siffrin cares deeply about the party in a different post, but i think that goes both ways.
just like Mirabelle reads Siffrinâs aloof, easygoing jokester persona as a lack of heartfelt connection to her and the others, Siffrin reads Mirabelleâs open affection with everyone she knows as rendering his connection to her less meaningful in her eyes.
why should Mirabelle, the savior, the hero, the protagonist, think Siffrin is significant in any way at all? theyâre just a footnote in her story, soon forgotten once this chapter is over. a fond memory, at best.
of course, sheâs kind and compassionate. she treats him with welcoming warmth and careâjust like she treats everyone else. thatâs just who she is. endlessly loving, endlessly loved.
but MirabelleâŠisnât actually as affectionate with Siffrin as she is with the others. because, like the rest of the party, she thinks Siffrin doesnât like to be touched! and Siffrin takes the lack of physical affection as an indication of how theyâre viewed rather than as a boundary thatâs being respected. (despite repeated indications and pretty goddamn direct statements to the contrary. buddy. please.) this is most obvious with Isabeau, but it applies to all of them, and iâm sure it factors into how he thinks Mirabelle sees him.
even with this perceived distance between them, though, Mirabelle means so much to Siffrin. âdonât make Mirabelle upsetâ is a consistent imperative in both the Prologue and ISAT. he plays a supporting roleâkeep her safe, keep her comforted, keep her happy. failing at this is devastating. this is true for the whole family, of course, but it feels extra urgent when applied to Mirabelle; her anxiety means she's visibly upset and in need of comforting more often than the others, and Siffrin readily jumps to reassure her or fix whatever he said wrong.
the first time you beat the King and talk to everyone at the end, Siffrin is left blushing, smiling so hard it hurts, and speechless with happiness at being praised by Mirabelle and told that she treasures their company. recognition that maybe they are special to her...until, of course, the unintentional dismissal. "come visit sometime" instead of "please, stay with me a little longer, i want you to be a part of my life." "treasured," but not special enough to keep.
every other party member says some version of "come visit" in their end talks. but there's weight in the (You promise.) to Mirabelle compared to the others' conversations, which are infused with more jokey, lighthearted affection, riding on relief and hope for the future. nothing like the bursting joy Siffrin feels at Mirabelle's acknowledgement.
and in the "What's her name?" eventâspecial dialogue that has a chance to happen in Act 4 when looping to Dormontâ
calling her "Mira" is an unspoken bid for friendship, learned from Isabeau's expressions of affection through nicknames. it's an attempt at connection that Siffrin initiated, but never got a direct answer for, since Mirabelle never calls him a nickname (until she tries and fails to come up with one during friendquest runs). he wants to be closer to her!! (but does she want that, too?)
no matter how hard each of them try, thereâs this disconnect. why would someone like you care about someone like me?
during the introduction of the friendquests, Mirabelle tries so sincerely to ask Siffrin whatâs wrong. she calls them out on lying about being fine, offers to listen to and support him, says that she wants him to be happyâŠâŠand he just!!!! doesnât get it!! Siffrin thinks that the only reason she would offer something like that is because sheâs too nervous to ask for that kind of support from him first. why would she care about them except in their role as a resource for her?? anything else would be weird!!!!
and getting into Mirabelleâs friendquest itself, yet again thereâs far more emotional distance here than compared to the othersâ, throughout each major iteration.
with Bonnie, he has a full-on outburst about the importance of keeping them safe, and establishes new boundaries around touch. with Isabeau, they remember how making him laugh shaped their personality from something formless and undefined to who they are now. with Odile, he finds a kindred spirit in their shared detachment, then seethes with jealousy over her ability to go to a physical place to find answers. in each case, itâs intimate, specific, emotional, and deeply personal on both sides.
with Mirabelle, Siffrin doesnât share much at all about himself, either externally or internally.
they share that theyâre not interested in having sex because âitâs weird,â and that he has something important to him but that inspires intensely complicated and contradictory feelings. still personal things that he hasnât shared with anyone before! butâŠhe says he doesnât like to think about it.
and they donât. they donât elaborate on either thought, not even to us. itâs all buried deep, where it canât interfere with helping Mirabelle, where it canât hurt them by looking it in the eye.
after Kingquest, instead of (You think about the stars.) in response to âsomething that brings you both joy and grief,â itâs (You donât think about anything.)
theyâre at their most verbose (internally, of course) after Mirabelle says that ignoring her problems would be âtoo cowardlyâ for her.
(Why doesnât she leave it behind, then?)âa reflection of that âcowardlyâ attitude, of abandoning painful things instead of confronting them. Siffrin recognizes that Mirabelle wonât take that approach, even though they donât understand it.
it next becomes âwhy should she be forced to contort herself to the world? why canât the world change to accommodate her as she is, instead?ââa sense of indignation and protectiveness on her behalf, perhaps. Mirabelle isnât doing anything wrong; why should she be the one who has to change?
and then:
itâs bitter and self-deprecating. itâs similar to the way Siffrin thinks about his inability to reconnect with his past compared to Odile, but the emotions are all directed inward. he doesnât direct any of that bitterness towards Mirabelle for her deep connection with her faith in the way he does towards Odile for her âprivilegeâ of deciding her origins donât matter.
Mirabelle is doing what Siffrin canâtâfacing the things that terrify her, exploring her relationship with something complicated but important to her, holding true to her faith out of genuine love and passion while also striving to be true to her own needs.
how can Siffrin, who blindly follows a faith that they can barely remember, a faith that brings them only pain, refusing to challenge or question or even think about anything difficultâhow can they compare to Mirabelle, with her resilience and resolve?
this extends to Mirabelleâs side quest with the Change God, as well; Siffrin is directly mocked by the god that Mirabelle loves so dearly right after seeing that same god heap her with praise and adoration. but thereâs no resentment or anger towards Mirabelle for being the beloved favorite while Siffrinâs suffering is watched with glee, no questioning what makes her worthy.
itâs likeâeven as an incredibly, deeply repressed person, Siffrin is at their most repressed when it comes to Mirabelle. aching to connect with her like they do with the others, but unable to conceive himself as being on the same level as importance as her, not even able to consciously harbor a significant negative emotion towards her as an individual.
even in the botched friendquest, Siffrin is not deliberately cruel to Mirabelle.
âYou know, you don't have to be bonded to anyone. If you're alone for your whole life, then that's just how it is. Isn't it better to just come to terms with it now, rather than later? You don't need to be with anyone to be happy, after all! So... So you should just accept it! Accept that you'll always be alone!â
literally all of that was intended to be sincere advice on how she can be happy and come to terms with her own desires outside of what society expects! a condensed version of the conclusion that they reached together, that she found fulfilling and soothing! itâs just. phenomenally badly worded, and also delivered with the fakest smile youâve ever seen plastered on their face.
this is also true for Bonnie, where their attempts to hurry things along once again caused the conflict. but the same canât be said for Odile or IsabeauâSiffrin directly attacks their character (Odileâs overbearing nosiness, Isabeauâs cowardice) and lashes out in ways designed to hurt them the most. even though he instantly regrets it, it still happened.
but not Mirabelle. they never tried to hurt Mirabelle.
sheâs the savior. sheâs the reason theyâre all here. the reason Siffrin has found this family, these people who welcomed him and surrounded him with joy and warmth after so many years spent wandering lost, aimless, and alone. all this connection and happiness, they owe it to her for bringing everyone together.
sheâs a symbol of friendship more than she is a close friend.
the same way Mirabelle imagines Siffrin as a mysterious, carefree rogue who would only be annoyed at any attempt she might make to get to know them, Siffrin imagines Mirabelle as a noble hero, burdened by greatness but resilient, who doesnât need some needy cling-on taking up her time and attention when she has far more important things to worry about.
if you die to the King before finishing Kingquest, you have a chance to get a scene devoted to each party member. Bonnie flees, and Siffrin hopes they can escape if time continues after he dies. Isabeau's eyes are fixed on Siffrin, wishing to take their pain away. Siffrin's rumination about Odile is tinged with bitternessâshe can't move, can't protect the others, can't protect herself, is always facing away.
Mirabelle, the defiant hero, stares down the King. once again, the focus is on her mission, her role. not the party.
in spite of all the reassuring and hand-holding they end up doing for her at times, i think there's an undercurrent of something like reverence for her, in moments like this. of course, Siffrin knows about Mirabelle's insecurities, especially after her (real) friendquest. they know the Change God didn't choose her, and how guilty and torn she feels about the deception she allowed to persist. they know about the tension between her orientation and beliefs, the pressures she feels to excel and conform. all so much bigger and more important than his own pitiful loneliness.
heâs there to support her as long as she needs them, as long as sheâll let them, and no longer.
"⊠I know I should be fine with leaving, because you're fine with it, too! I-It's fine that this journey meant more to me than to all of you! And that, as soon as this journey is over, you'll forget me!"
You're awful. You're not my friend, not my ally, not anything. You never were.
I canât wait to never see you again.
itâs all MDP âMirabelleâ needs to say. Siffrin was never worth her attention or affection in the first place, no need to waste any more breath than this. she gave everything to them, and they are nothing to her. her story will continue without him.
theyâre both doing each other a disservice, seeing one another like this. enforcing a distance that doesnât need to exist. they flatten and deny each other and themselves in their attempts to "not bother" the other with their own worries and desires. neither of them can conceptualize the other as equally insecure and longing for connection, and especially not connection with each other.
because of the way they simplify each other in addition to how much of their true feelings they repress, i think it might be fair to say that Mirabelle and Siffrin have the shallowest friendship prior to Act 6. there's affection, there's genuine love and protectiveness and teasing and support and moreânone of that is fake at its core! they both made earnest attempts to reach out and understand one another. but each attempt was one-sided to some extent, blocked by some combination of their own preconceptions, always missing the chance to stand eye to eye.
the pedestals had to crumble and the illusions shatter before they can truly see each other as people beyond their roles.
