#Secrets Tools

[juniemunie]

[Abandoned by the Lightners, his heart became cracked with hatred.]

Hitting a lil' too close to home?

[dailycupofcreativitea]

Anxiety 😔

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Happy Birthday to Fallen London; My favourite British people beefing it with bats simulator.

[sualne]

Old and new gifts.

(timeline)

[fanfic-gremlin-ft-trauma]

Sometimes a smooch cures all of lifes problems

[melchinafan]

Massive kudos to the South of Midnight team for the attention to detail in environmental storytelling and character design! I know there's still a ton of stuff I can't even begin to guess at, but I've been able to glean a good amount just from the trailers, and it's all got me itching for more.

Some things I've been able to spot, just from these two screenshots:

I'd already kinda gotten the impression from Hazel's tattoo choker necklace and Lisa Frank-esque dolphin-rainbow tank top...but after seeing Lacey's half of a "best friends" heart necklace and jean jacket? I'd be shocked if this doesn't take place in or around the 90s. (Which is a solid choice, since it's a good way to limit having to worry about the question of cell phones.) Plus, if you take a look at their fridge, you can see magnets of the primary mythical creatures we'll run across! I listed most of them in the alt text if you can't tell what they are, but if I had to guess at the mystery cut-off one in the second screenshot...I'd say it's the Altamaha-ha from the announcement trailer. (Which I think is also maybe the purple-pink aquatic creature you can see for a split second near the end of the story trailer.) And...well, it's not visible in these screenshots, but in this scene Hazel also accidentally knocks a handmade mug off the counter. That mug has a bottle tree design on it, as featured in the game's logo and as important in-game magical elements!

Also fun is some of the detailing for Shakin' Bones:

His guitar has a Prospero license plate near the bottom (also seen on a half-sunk taxi that Catfish swims past in the gameplay trailer), which says CROS RDS (or "crossroads"). Below his arm you can see his name "Bones" carved into the face of the guitar, flanked by a couple Fleur-de-lis, and in a couple spots there's decorative blue paint (haint blue, I'd bet). Plus some short bits of bone (femur, at a guess), for both the bottom strap button and the tuning knobs. There's also a broken, rusted sawblade for a pickguard...which curiously has an elegant leafy design carved onto it. There's a similar leafy design carved along the top side of the guitar, too. Bones himself has a lot of different flora growing on him...at least two different kinds of leafy plants (small round leaves on his shoes, larger pointy leaves on his arms and neck), and some small brown mushrooms. And while I don't know enough about plants to recognize what those three might be, I'm pretty sure the flowers on his neck and side are swamp lilies. (The flower on his side is visible near the start of the announcement trailer, when you see him from behind. I'm also pretty sure I spotted some swamp lilies growing around Rhubarb's house in the story trailer, in their standard cluster form vs. Bones' unique singular flowers. Fun fact: for folks who play Secret World and remember a particular painting of some import in the Franklin Mansion, you may be amused to note that one of that flower's colloquial names is "seven sisters.")

There's also...well...these are a bit more spoiler-y, so I'll put them under a cut and try to keep it vague. But there's visual clues hinting at some secrets a few folks seem to have...

Less overtly secret, but still some story spoilers:

The most obvious thing at first glance in the first screenshot is the presence of Huggin' Molly's red yarn inside the broken wall. At second glance, and double-checking the start of the trailer to confirm the yellow paint and window style matches, this appears to be Hazel's house. But looking more carefully, one might notice that the exposed inner boards of the wall seem to have a little faded blue paint...suggesting that the house was protected with a hidden layer of haint blue (possibly in addition to the indoor wall paint that also appears to be blue), which wards off nasty critters. And with that ward literally broken, and Huggin' Molly being known in her real-world mythology to go after folks late at night, well... (Bonus fun fact: Secret Worlders may also be amused that the time on the clock in the first screenshot of this post is 10:10, as with Kingsmouth's clocks. Probably specifically 10:10 pm, not a storm-dark morning.)

And finally, a particular someone who seems to have deeper secrets:

(I linked the story trailer earlier, but the second screenshot is from the half-hour-long documentary.) The subtitles tell us this man is Laurent, and I'm curious about how significant his ear and nose piercings might be, given that he otherwise seems to be giving off airs of "responsible adult" (which typically does not permit such things). I have no idea who he is, exactly...yet his clothing choice and sense of decor are reminiscent of another design, which has shown up in the trailers and some promo/concept art that's been shared by the devs... But I'll let you dig up that connection on your own, if you're inclined to hunt down a bigger story spoiler.

[regular-gnome]

What's Anatomist up to lately? (I miss my bae)

They are mainly working, occasionally getting annoyed at how evolution makes things more difficult for them to work on

it's reference to the recurrent laryngeal nerve. The fun thing about it is that it's the nerve that innervates the muscles in the larynx, but it detours around the aorta on its way from the brain to the voice box. This is especially noticeable in larger animals where the heart and the voice box are far apart. For example, in giraffes, the structures are only a few centimeters apart, but the nerve can get 5 meters long because it travels all the way down to the chest and then loops back up. This is a result of how structures evolved from fish (with no necks) to large animals (with large necks). Evolution can't just "unplug" the nerve and optimize it, so next best thing is to gradually adjust over time

animation of the process | bit more info about it

[theoneringpop]

He didn’t know she had been captured, he was probably pretty sure she was dead. It’s not a new brooch, he’s worn it in other episodes.

Elrond, pal, you just have a lock pick built into your brooch?

[hawnks]

Something something desperately keeping the fact that you're an omega from your closest alpha rival, knowing that the second they find out they will not hesitate to use it against you.

[voxset]

[transmechanicus]

Got to see the non-40k Secret Levels with a friend and. The Armored Core one. Oh my god. I get to watch Keanu Reeves be a tatted up anti-social Core jockey for 10 minutes. He’s got a hot chick holding him by the neural collar just to keep him from starting bar fights, whispering in his ear 24/7, looking after him, at least enough to keep him functional. Hot. His mech jacks into like 5 different fluid ports and plugs and projects holograms on his eyes. No one’s like him, except for the others, except no one’s like him. He gets called everything short of a “Good dog” for mission complete. I need to get back in to Armored Core 6 or i’ll die.

[if-you-dont-ask-me-to-stay]

Guys I’m making a compilation can anyone help

[ovytia-art]

Quick tea time colour before I go to bed zzzz

For @green-with-envy-phandom-event, lines by @ikiracake

[itsoverfeeling]

back that character into a corner and get them to admit their terrible secrets

[ruthlesswaves]

i figured him out. do you fw him

[theplottdump]

Poppy: You- 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦!

Hinoki: Only a little bit. Just enough so we could have this chance to talk. (🎵) Poppy: I - You - 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 -

Hinoki: 𝘚𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘩. Just listen.

Hinoki: I found this place with your father years ago. After I came back from Tartosa - you were still so little.

It was 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 - imagine hot-boxing in a yurt, completely nude at a 50 person orgy in the Komorebian mountains when all of a sudden - you find yourself somewhere else. 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹.

Poppy: Okay - and why are we here now? Hinoki: Baby, this place… It's not just some drug induced apparition. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲. A shared space between every life we've ever lived, 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁, 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗹.

Hinoki: It was in this pocket space where I found I was able to peek behind the curtain. Into the lives of other versions of myself, running adjacent to my own.

In one life I had a son who I abandoned in a pizza box in Moonwood Mill- in another a set of twins- also abandoned. In every single life - the same terrible mistake. 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧 and 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧. Mistakes that I ran from.

Ones I'm still running from.

Poppy: So you're a terrible mother in every universe or whatever, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦. But that still doesn't explain why you dragged me in here with you. I mean- Are we even still talking? Back there? Can they hear us? Hinoki: 𝙔𝙚𝙨, as a precaution we've only dipped one foot in. Any more could get dangerous. Poppy: Dangerous?

Hinoki: In small doses, this between space is easy enough to slip in and out of.

But linger too long and there's a risk of separation - the soul becoming detached, lost, corrupted. No longer being able to find it's way back it's host- our bodies in the material. With no way back, you would be left completely catatonic.

Hinoki: But sometimes, when the pain builds up- I come here to forget.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗽𝗲 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀. After a time they always return, but for a short while I am able to leave the heavier ones here.

Dealing with a few pieces of my mind at a time became easier than living with the whole.

Poppy: Mom, I'm sorry. Hinoki: There was no way you could have known. And you wouldn't have believed me anyway. Rightly so. Poppy: So is that why you can never remember which one of us is which? Hinoki: 𝘗𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘺. Poppy: What!? It's an honest question!