hii hi hi 2, 5, 28 and/or 30 for Edith?? smiles so wide
Hiii!! Thank you for the ask, Coco!! Smiles so, so wide :]
From this OC ask game. Most of these are under the cut.
Q2: Biggest Pet Peeve
Edith can't stand people not performing basic etiquette, especially in public places. She would hate to work in hospitality because she'd have to deal with untucked chairs. It's such an easy thing to do.
Q5: Do They Smoke?
Nope! She has no interest in it. All her life, she has been surrounded by cigarettes. Now, she associates them with carelessness.
Q28: Do They Believe in Aliens?
No. She has not seen any proof, so she does not believe. Edith seeks facts. In her persuit of knowledge and truth, she disregards anything without solid evidence.
This is why she is athiest. She hasn't had her prayers recieved, hasn't seen any proof of Jesus, or anything else. It doesn't make sense to her. She can get rather judgy about it.
This contrasts with Brandon, who believes in aliens because of a lack of proof against it. The two can debate about this for a long time. He takes it very seriously, but she sees it as a casual, intellectual debate. No matter what, they end in stalemates.
Q30: Have They Been in Love?
I was hoping someone would ask this for Edith.
Anyway, nope, and she never will. She's aromantic-asexual and has no interest in dating as an aro-ace person. Of course, living in the 1950s, she does not have these labels. She assumes she will fall in love someday, but resents the idea.
She's also on the aplatonic spectrum. Her friendships are very shallow. Because it's the bare minimum in her society to have friends, she does feel that something is wrong with her.
It's a small spoiler to say this, but I don't mind. Before moving, she had one friend she considered close/a best friend. Days before moving, she went to this girl's house to retrieve some photos/memorabillia. The girl was distant. A group of her friends were hanging out at her house. Only then did Edith realise her friend never behaved as casual and happy around her as she did with this group.
I don't know if Edith ever got those photos. What I do know is she left feeling rather strange. It wasn't that she wasn't upset. She was greatly upset that she never knew this girl did not care for her much. However, that's all it really was. It occurred to her that she didn't miss her friendship, but that she was angry at herself. She was angry for not seeing the signs. She was angry for not feeling how others felt.
Over the story, Edith will never have a grand moment of, for lack of a better word, unlocking friendship. I want it to be clear that her aplatonicism is not something to be fixed. Her struggles come from living in a society that places having close friends as the bare minimum.
She is not completely aplatonic, though. Her friendship to Brandon is very important to her character and the story overall.
TL;DR: Edith is greyplatonic and aro-ace. If people ship her with anyone, I will lose my shit (/negative).
Do they believe some individuals are inherently more important than others? (Cassidy)
Which do they fear more, the deep ocean or the reaches of space? (Brandon)
How would they react if they learned that some of their memories were not as they remembered them? (Jeffery)
When do they consider someone no longer a person? If someone remembers nothing, are they still themselves? (Edith)
Feel free to do however many of these seem interesting to answer! I love learning more about your little guys!
Hello, HP! Thank you for these questions! I'm so happy you're interested in my OCs :] I hope you're doing well!
Identity is a fascinating concept. I love my time and memory losers. Get existential crises, idiots (/affectionate).
A read more was put at the end of Cassidy's section to prevent this from getting too long.
Questions from the Cosmic Horror Ask Meme.
Cassidy: Do they believe some individuals are inherently more important than others?
Oh, definitely. Cassidy is the golden girl of the school. She's the cheer captain, the to-be prom queen, the sought after tutor, and widely considered one of the nicest students around. Her long-standing relationship with Benny (the so-called King of Prebrook Falls) gives her a reputation as one half of a perfect pair. Although she tries to do right by most people, she absolutely has a hidden superiority complex.
Her father runs the tin can factory on the outskirts of town. He gets a lot of money for it. She lives in a big house on a tidy street with her parents. Her neighbours all present as well-to-do, all American people. Of course, everyone in town has their struggles, but the outward appearance is picturesque.
She's very ignorant to class struggles. She knows that some of her classmates can't afford the school lunches or don't have enough food to bring their own. She knows some of her classmates wear the same few outfits because they don't have any other clothes. She knows it all in a factual sense. She doesn't think people from lower classes are dirty, disgusting vermin. It's just that none of it sinks in for her.
Cassidy's idea of inherent worth is very tied to social classes. At the core of it, she ties worth to how much someone can influence the world at large. Money, assets, and especially relations all contribute to higher social power. When you're stuck at the bottom of the class ladder, it's harder to have this power on a large scale as an individual.
I could keep rambling about her, but I think it would be better to make a separate post for the rest.
TL;DR: she attributes worth to social power. She is absolutely a nepo baby who is not ill-intentioned but extremely ignorant to the obstacles blocking lower classes from gaining this power. This has given her a superiority complex.
Brandon: Do they fear the deep ocean or deep space more?
Brandon will tell anyone he's not afraid of either. The answer is the ocean terrifies him.
Any time someone expresses fear regarding deep space, he'll go on a spiel about how that's a stupid fear to have. He'll list all the facts he knows about deep space. He'll put heavy emphasis on the fact that so much is unknown but that doesn't matter because it barely affects humans. He thinks fearing something so vast and constant is irrational and weird.
The problem with the ocean is that it does affect humans. Water makes up 71% of Earth's surface. It's inescapable. The fact that scientists don't even know all of what's at the bottom is eerie. He can study space like it's an endless playground of wonder. Sure, humans' knowledge of it only goes so far, but that makes sense for something practically infinite!
Meanwhile, the ocean is finite. There is a bottom and there's a top. It's contained. Even so, there are so many things that lurk in the depths. The idea of aliens scares him, but he's a sceptic. It's unfortunate that the creatures of the deep trenches act and look a whole lot like the extraterrestrials he fears.
So, yeah, he's totally not afraid of either, and you'd be stupid to assume he is.
Jeffrey: How would they react if they learned that some of their memories were not as they remembered them?
>:]
Memories warp with time. I read once that the human brain never remembers something exactly as it happened because the paths taken to form a memory versus to recall a memory are different. I don't know the accuracy of this, but it was in a science book, so I'll trust it enough.
Jeffrey wouldn't believe this. He loves to force ignorance onto scientific facts. He loves to force ignorance onto everything. A more cartoon version of him would cover his ears, close his eyes, and say it doesn't exist if he can't see it.
Ironically, he'd argue that the tree still fell in the forest even if nobody bore witness to it.
Anyway, he'd be deeply disturbed if it could be proven to him that he remembered things wrong. Little things, sure, he could handle better, but big events would be deeply troubling to him.
For example, if he were to misremember and entire birthday of his from years before, he'd be thoroughly distressed. He'd start questioning his other memories. Is anything he knew real? Can he trust other people's memories? He doesn't have to face up to that fact he ignored. I mean, it's not even real! Right?
Edith: When do they consider someone no longer a person? If someone remembers nothing, are they still themselves?
EXCELLENT question, HP! :D
Throughout The Butterfly Effect, Edith is tormented by her sense of self. She's forced to face a future version of herself she has not experienced and now never will. Did she experience these things? It was her who wrote it down, who went to that place, who said that thing, but was it her?
The Butterfly Effect focuses heavily on memories. When Edith finds the copy of her journal from her future, she is immediately thrown off course. The simple act of finding the journal will irreversibly prevent her from ever experiencing that future exactly as it happened. You could say it's similar to the different paths taken when forming a memory versus recalling a memory.
As for before the time journal (as I call it) is found, she would say it's a grey area. Nobody remembers being born when they're an adult, but they were still that baby once. Key words being 'were' and 'once'. She wouldn't consider herself the newborn she once was. That was a state of her that only exists in the past.
She thinks identity is transient through time. She can't comprehend a single, identifiable state of being thanks to the infinite scale of time. If she was this person at this exact second, what about all the microseconds within it? It freaks her out when she thinks about it too much.
If faced with a hypothetical person who truly remembers nothing and cannot form memories, she's actually consider that the most constant state of self someone can have. To have no memories is to be a blank slate. A blank canvas is always a blank canvas. When you paint on it, you're changing it. Even if you finish the painting, it will flake and fall apart with time too.
Despite this, she would be the most terrified if she were to have all her memories wiped. Well, she'd be terrified beforehand. Being a husk might be the (for lack of a better word) purest state of self, but it's one that cannot experience life unless you remove the purity from it.
hi! i saw edith through arts's blog and i thought. wow! they seem really cool and maybe have similar vibes to my own project! i should check it out! and i was right this is cool <3 (though different than i expected!)
anyway! how does edith come to the conclusion that she's found her own future self's notebook? does she draw this conclusion from the book alone, it's contents, some other outside clue, or a mix?
Ahhh, hello! I'm so happy you decided to check my OCs out! Thank you! :D
I checked out your blog when I got this ask and also thought, "Woah! Cool OCs!" I will be sending an ask for them :]
Okay, I originally typed a bunch of paragraphs, but I've tried to condense it. (Edit: I failed, haha.)
After some trauma and stress-induced psychosis, Edith has to track every detail of her life in a journal. If not, or if she records symptoms of the psychosis returning, she'll be straight in hospital. Not a good fate when it's 1958!
One day, she picks up her journal from a box under her bed. She doesn't remember this box, but assumes her mother organised her room. The journal looks the same, albeit with a few more scuff marks on the cover.
At first, the contents are normal. However, the entries soon start going beyond the present date. Somehow, she's started cataloguing events that haven't happened yet.
She understandably freaks out and thinks the psychosis is back or she's in a dream. The dream idea breaks when she never wakes up. The psychosis idea gets more complicated when she finds the normal journal she was writing in outside of the box. Now, she has two!
To confirm she's not detaching from reality, she starts carrying the future-time-fuckery journal around the house when it's closed. Her family openly acknowledge its existence, thinking it's the normal book. Then, she hides the future journal somewhere secret while her parents read the normal one. She realises they are two distinct but very real books.
The future journal also contains info she shouldn't know. Rumours, people's secrets, and bubbling tension between people. Some of these people she hasn't really spoken to, or, at least, not in a positive, open way.
She ends up confronting someone on some personal info she knows about them. They call her out on how in the world she knows this, but don't deny it. Using the info she read in the journal, she lies about the signs having been obvious.
There's also stuff like her handwriting and tone matching. This future version of her has included details of her own past that only her family knows. They aren't interested in forging her entries at all. I think the only person who might have a chance of being good at forging it would be Martha (her mother). She'd still fail in the tone aspect.
I should mention that all these things about the messed up journal never make it into the regular one. She leaves details out and makes excuses. Surely, this won't come back to bite her (ha).
Thank you again for taking interest in her! I appreciate it lots :]
Hi! you gave me the COOLEST ask ive ever gotten so i gotta get you back >:)
What is your biggest inspiration for TBE?
Why do the Burnes move to Washington after the house fire? Were they looking for a fresh start, or were they scared of something in California, or something else?
You use a lot of moth imagery, is there symbolic reasoning behind this? or do you just prefer the moth vibes to butterflies?
how big is the town? are there nearby landmarks? what places do the characters like going to best? are there any places that don't seem like they should still be running or profitable? is anything abandoned?
what sort of animals are most prevalent in and around town? do any of the characters hunt?
if you could assign any animal, plant, or fungi as a symbol for each/any character, which ones would you pick and why?
<3
YAY! Thank you! Glad my ask was good! :D This got long.
My biggest inspiration? Tough question! I'm inspired by existentialism and absurdism philosophies. Keep in mind I am not a philosopher and actually have to, like, read the books. I'm just drawn to what I already know about them. In a way, I'm also inspired by my hate for nihilism, haha.
Across the various iterations of the plot, I've taken from Christianity/religion, Moral Orel (unintentionally), the song Devil Town by Cavetown, and, dead seriously, two Goosebumps books (The Ghost Next Door and Cuckoo Clock of Doom). Can't forget the literal butterfly effect theory, after which it's named.
The move to Washington was mainly influenced by wanting the cheapest house possible that comes with furniture. The family are poor as hell after the fire, and the motel they're living at is digging into what down payment money they have. There's also definitely a subconscious element of wanting to run away from it all.
In meta, I had settled on Washington state before I decided they used to live in California. Their town, Prebrook Falls, just has the vibes I want.
Fun fact, Prebrook Falls is located in Whatcom county!
The moth imagery mostly comes from a previous version of the story. TBE used to be very inspired by religion. The moths were to the butterflies like goats are to lambs in Christianity. I've stuck with them because I like moths. I still think there's relevant symbolism I can find in there.
The town is small, but hosts its own schools and generally functions by itself without huge amounts of imports. A lot of the exports come from factories around the outskirts. Edith's father, Dennis, takes up a job at the local tin can factory.
Prebrook Falls is named after the nearby waterfalls that I named but forgot what I called them (damn it!). They flow pretty much all year round. The town is named Prebrook because the waterfalls have been going for longer than one of the canals that flows around the town.
It's also located in a generally very mountainous area. It's surrounded by thick woods on all sides. Only one road leads in and out of town. People visit for the nature. There are camping opportunities a little ways outside of town. The town also has hotels.
Most teens love the soda fountain at the local drug store. One of the teens, Benny, works there. I think it's funny two of my stories' locations' hot spots are ice cream (and other foods/drinks) places. @growing-pains-1994 is the other one.
A lot of the youth hang out in the woods to escape from the watchful eyes of authority. Jeffrey is a big fan of this. Unfortunately, he smokes in the woods (little shit).
There are abandoned houses around the outskirts. In a way, the Burnes and Raine families' houses are abandoned. The two buildings are the same, just mirroring each other. Edith's bedroom faces the Raine family's son, Brandon's, room. The houses were supposed to be part of a larger complex, but the company in charge went bankrupt.
The Raine family (the next-door neighbours) have lived in there for many, many years. The whole reasoning behind the bankrupt company is so I can have the mirroring houses make sense. I just want Edith and Brandon's windows to face each other's.
Prevelant animals include foxes, rabbits, deer, bears, and everything else common in the very northern PNW. Edith resonates with foxes a lot. Hunting is common. Sadly for her, foxes are a target. Benny's father, Sawyer, hunts a lot.
Ooh, tough! I've been trying to change the teens' animal symbolisms to something more fitting for each. Here's the current list:
Edith Burnes: foxes, butterflies, moths.
Tomas Burnes (Edith's younger brother): butterflies, hummingbirds. I'm not really sure.
Dennis Burnes (father): grizzly bear.
Martha Burnes (mother): deer, salmon.
Brandon Raine: deer. Mostly comes from a really old version of him. Maybe he'd fit a mouse or rat better.
Maxine Raine: lamb through and through.
Kenneth Raine (father): domestic dog (bloodhound, German shepherd).
Linda Raine (mother): woodpecker, owl.
Angela Bloom: goats, white doves and pigeons.
Jeffrey Cob: dog coded (beagles)!
Cassidy Lock: rabbits and hares.
Benny Woods: he thinks beavers are the coolest animals ever. He will incorporate them into pep talks.
Edith is insatiably curious. She wants to know everything. Like any child, she always asked 'why?' However, she just never stopped. She's learnt to suppress it around other people for fear of rejection, but her mind is constantly buzzing.
She's also very fearful of what will happen when she gives up. After finding the mystery journal, she knows she'll immediately be labelled crazy and institutionalised (in 1958, mind you) if anyone finds out. The journal is a real mystery. It's unlike any questions she had about why the sky is blue or how soap is made. Unfortunately, it's not something she can solve alone.
There also enters the existential dread as she uncovers more and more. The journal alone is enough to give anyone a crisis, but it just gets worse. Eventually, other people get involved, but they are just as puzzled.
All in all, she never takes 'because it is' or 'because I said so' for an answer. In her mind, she has to know what's going on, or it'll kill her. She'd even trade getting killed in the process for dying without answers.
Q2: What are your OC's three most valued things (physical or metaphysical)? Take them away. How would they change?
Truth
Tomas (her younger brother)
Reasoning
After the Terrible, Tragic Family Event™, Edith already greatly loses her sense of reasoning for a period. For a short time, she experiences psychosis, so reality becomes a warped stranger to her. Thankfully, the episode ends. Even so, she's scarred and terrified. After hallucinating, she's far more distrustful of everything she encounters. She's become extremely guarded and more irritable. When being in a whole new town, this is even less helpful.
If she lost Tomas, her world would feel over. For a long, long time, Tomas has been her best friend. At times, he's been her only friend. She loves him more than anyone (and is also co-dependent on him). The grief would be immeasurable. She'd be more likely to reenter psychosis. I actually think that, especially if it happened at the start of the story, she'd not end well at all.
Truth is everything to her. Without it, she loses all sense of self or direction. Truth is what she strives for. It gives her purpose. Ironically, it also drags her down. She loves to dig her own grave!
(As per usual I am pretty bad with asks but) How about some things about Edith? I think she’s neat :)
Oh my gosh, I thought I answered this! Here is my original answer:
Thank you for the ask! :D
Okay, so, Edith is a major nature girl. She would read all the National Geographic magazines she could get her hands on. She is full of animal facts, since she does prefer fauna over flora. Her favourite animal is the red fox!
Speaking of which, she has had this fox plushie since she was a little girl. She got them from her grandmother, who hand sewed her and Tomas a toy each. Tomas got a lamb. It's small and full of beans but she loves it. Looks kind of like a Beanie Baby now that I imagine it.
One thing she does like about moving towns is she has the forest literally at her backyard. Right across the chain link fence is the border of the woods surrounding the town. One of her bedroom windows also faces out that way.
She has a bike, though she does not use it often. She's usually either inside or walking.
She loves dawn. Midnight is her least favourite time of day.
Despite being self-described as a logic-built person, she is inclined to consider the supernatural--just a little bit.
She's not that good at maths.
She loves journalism and archives. It's a reason she loves journaling so much, other than the fact it's just fun and therapeutic. Really, her bad memory definitely adds to this. However, she does just think record-keeping is extremely important. Obviously, the whole 'knowing what's going on in the world' matters too.
