shine

I do think the unwieldy original designs of the toons are important though because they showcase some of Arthur and Delilah's thoughtlessness in bringing them to life, so I don't imagine even in my interpretation that he always had one. I instead think it would've been a later addition after the precariousness of having an unsecured leaky fishbowl for a head was realized to be stressful or otherwise detrimental, such as putting Vee at risk, creating slipping hazards for the visitors, and potentially upsetting Finn as he worries about Barnaby's wellbeing — not to mention the possibility that not having water in his bowl could actually seriously impede his functioning for all we know.

putting these together here instead of a proper answer bc holy god long post but NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR SENDING ME BRAINROT ABT MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE TURNS YOU TO ASH (/silly)

sniffles oughhh so cute ,,,,, I haven't thought yet myself abt how exactly Dyle might've first introduced himself after the closure, though I think the idea of him not having even been notified of the closure (since even the handlers of the mains had to leave in a rush without saying goodbye) makes a sad sort of sense to me — having to put the pieces together himself when all his trains were running empty and Arthur and Delilah weren't responding to his radio calls anymore

I can't help but wonder if he was initially quite scared and tried to remain hidden while he sussed out why nobody was around anymore. He's not supposed to interact with anybody after all, plus he probably didn't have any concrete reason to believe A/D were gone yet — so I wonder if he was initially pretty nervous that he was breaking the rules by abandoning his post and tried not to get caught before running into any of the other toons, with his nonchalant and dismissive bit initially cropping up as a defense mechanism against his own awkwardness. Especially considering how badly he wanted to be with them, yet how unprepared he would've actually been for that scenario to become reality due to how little he had even socialized before that point. That thought makes me a little emo